Nagpur DRI seizes amphetamine at railway station and leopard skin in Gondia within three days
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence's Nagpur unit seized 1.3 kg of amphetamine from a woman passenger and a leopard skin from a suspected wildlife trafficking network.
The Nagpur Regional Unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has acted against two separate smuggling networks within three days. One case concerns an alleged inter-state drug racket and the other illegal wildlife trafficking.
The first action took place on September 27 at Nagpur railway station. With the help of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), DRI officers seized 1.3 kg of amphetamine from a woman passenger. Its value in the illegal market is put at about Rs 1.05 crore.
The DRI team had received specific intelligence. Acting on it, the team stopped the woman, who was travelling in the Hazrat Nizamuddin-KSR Bengaluru Rajdhani Express. A close search of her luggage turned up a specially built compartment behind the inner fabric lining of a suitcase.
Two packets wrapped in blue carbon paper were taken out of the concealed compartment. A test carried out on the spot confirmed that the substance was amphetamine.
The woman was arrested under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. She was produced the same day before a holiday court in Nagpur.
Leopard skin seized in Gondia
Two days later, on September 29, the DRI Nagpur team took another action on intelligence input. An alleged wildlife trafficking network was intercepted near Purada village in Gondia district.
Officers recovered a leopard skin in the operation. Two people were detained on suspicion of involvement in its illegal trade.
The leopard is listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which means it has the highest level of legal protection.
After the seizure, the leopard skin and the two detained men were handed over to the Forest Range Officer of the North Deoria range in Gondia for further investigation and action under wildlife law.
The two actions show that the Nagpur DRI unit is focusing steadily on breaking up organised smuggling networks that operate across state borders.
The unit has made several earlier wildlife seizures, including a leopard skin in Ujjain, tiger bones in Seoni, pangolin scales in Pileru and Jagdalpur, and ivory in Mysuru.
