Ahmedabad, Sep 30 (IANS): Ahmedabad cyber crime and customs department has busted an international drug trafficking syndicate operating in India, which had its roots traced back to Canada.

Customs officials have recovered cocaine weighing 2.31 grams, valued at Rs 2,31,000 in the domestic market, as well as high-quality international cannabis weighing 5.970 kilograms, with an estimated worth of Rs 46,08,015 in the international market.

The operation involved the supply of narcotics through the dark web and social media channels, culminating in the confiscation of drugs worth approximately Rs 50 lakh at Ahmedabad Airport.

The traffickers had employed innovative method for drug distribution.

The illicit substances were ingeniously hidden within toys and the pages of books. Authorities from the Cyber Unit and Customs Department have seized a quantity of these tampered books and toys, and their investigations have also led them to trace drug peddlers and buyers associated with this operation.

The drug trafficking network, which spanned Canada and the United States, utilised the dark web and social media platforms to distribute drugs ingeniously concealed within books and toys, often at parties and social gatherings.

Pages of books were soaked in the illicit substances, and once delivered, these pages were crushed to extract the drugs.