Ketamine hydrochloride is a dissociative general anesthetic primarily used in medical and veterinary settings to induce loss of consciousness and relieve pain.

Mumbai: The sales and marketing manager of Supriya Lifescience Ltd, a listed pharma company, and a customs broker were arrested by the Customs for allegedly attempting to export 200 kg of Ketamine Hydrochloride to South Korea using an expired Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) export authorisation.Ketamine hydrochloride is a dissociative general anesthetic primarily used in medical and veterinary settings to induce loss of consciousness and relieve pain. It is a controlled “psychotropic substance” under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 in India. The Government of India added it to the NDPS schedule to curb its illicit diversion and recreationalA unit of the Special Investigation and Intelligence Branch (SIIB) Export at Airport arrested Sreekant Sreedhan, the authorised representative of Supriya Lifescience and the proprietor of the CB Firm Uday Anant Tayshete. On specific intelligence, the officials detained the consignment which was to be exported to Republic of Korea.During examination, the consignment was found to contain 8 drums of ketamine hydrochloride USPNF weighing 217.5 kgs, which is prohibited without valid NOC from the Narcotic Commssioner of CBN as per rule NDPS act.“When the company was asked to produce the document, they produced an expired no-objection certificate, which is mandatory but had expired on May 31. They allegedly failed to verify the authorisation before filing the shipping bill. Both have been booked under various provisions of the NDPS Act.’’ said an official. The officials then recorded the statement of M/S Worldlink Airfreight Logistics proprietor Uday Tayshete, who failed to exercise due diligence regarding export control laws. Officials placed Tayshete under arrest.The seized consignment has been confiscated under the NDPS Act and the Customs Act. Both accused were arrested and booked under Sections 8 read with 22(c), 23(c), 28, 29 and 37 of the NDPS Act for attempting to illegally export a psychotropic substance.