Jaipur: A 206 gm packet of crystal methamphetamine, a synthetic drug commonly known as “ice”, was recovered from a cotton field in Rohi area of 8 C Badi, a border village under Hindumalkot police station in Sriganganagar district Wednesday. Police said it was the first seizure of the drug reported in the district.Locals spotted the packet and alerted the farmer, following which BSF and Hindumalkot police reached the spot.The packet contained the transparent substance along with two illuminating sticks, copper wire and plastic tape. As the substance had no smell and appeared similar to alum, police initially could not establish whether it was a narcotic.Police called an expert to examine the substance. Tests confirmed it was methamphetamine, police said. A case was subsequently registered under NDPS Act against unidentified smugglers, and the investigation was handed over to a senior police officer.After inspecting the spot, a police officer said the packet appeared to have been dropped in the field within the past month. Police are investigating how it reached the area and trying to identify those responsible.According to sources, police neither seized nor encountered methamphetamine in the district before this recovery. The drug was previously seized in Barmer near Indo-Pak border. Police sources said it is commonly used in major cities, including Mumbai and Delhi.A senior official described ice as a highly potent synthetic drug that directly affects the central nervous system. “This is a serious matter of concern that such a highly potent synthetic drug has been smuggled into a border district. Usually, it has been heroin and MD drugs that were dropped through drones, but this is the first time such a drug has reached our district,” the official said, adding that the possibility of the packet being dropped by a drone could not be ruled out.
