Ahmedabad, March 10 The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist (ATS) Squad has seized 22 kg of the analgesic drug etomidate, disguised as aloe vera powder, at Mumbai airport while it was being illegally exported to Malaysia via air cargo, officials said on Tuesday.
The seizure comes days after the ATS arrested three individuals in connection with the case.
Etomidate, a short-acting anesthetic, is increasingly being misused for recreational purposes. According to the website of The Lancet journal, its rapid dissociative effects and minimal cardiorespiratory suppression appeal to adolescents, especially when repackaged into e-liquids that enable discreet vaping.
The drug was being sold in foreign markets at an estimated USD 4,000 to 5,000 per kilogram, the ATS said.
Three individuals – Nikunj Gadhiya, Chetan Vavadiya, and Bhautik Padmani, all residents of Surat – were arrested on Sunday following information that some individuals were exporting the analgesic drug to countries in Southeast Asia, where the substance is treated as a narcotic or psychotropic substance under local laws, it said.
"During searches and inspections at the offices of the three accused, purchase bills of etomidate and stock registers were examined, which confirmed that they were mislabelling and misdeclaring etomidate and exporting it to foreign countries," the ATS said in a statement.
Further, during questioning of Gadhiya, it came to light that on February 28, he had arranged to send six parcels with a total weight of 25.5 kilograms, of which 22 kg was etomidate, to Malaysia via air cargo, it said.
These parcels were examined in Mumbai by police using a spectrograph drug detector kit, which confirmed the presence of etomidate and the drug was seized. The parcels had been misdeclared and mislabelled as aloe vera powder samples before being sent, it added.
The ATS had earlier said that the three accused exported the drug via air cargo from Mumbai airport by preparing fake bills, mislabelling the product, and submitting forged customs clearance documents.
Gadhia had exported around 50 kg of etomidate by disguising it as aloe vera powder. Vavadiya sent nearly 50 kg of the drug by labelling it as "Ginopol-24 powder," a personal care ingredient, to Malaysia and Thailand, while Padmani is accused of exporting 25 kg of etomidate by mislabelling it as aloe vera powder, it said.
The etomidate powder sent to Thailand was seized by the police there, an ATS release said.
Etomidate powder is treated as a controlled or prohibited substance in several countries. In Thailand, it is classified as a Schedule II substance under the Psychotropic Substances Act, while in Malaysia, it is listed as a Group B drug under the Poisons Act. In Singapore, it falls under Class C drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act.