The Narcotics Control Bureau has busted an international racket involving illegal trafficking of pharma drugs from India to Australia and arrested three persons with amphetamine and other drugs worth Rs 3 crore, an official said on Thursday.

Acting on a tip-off on Tuesday that a consignment of drugs was being sent to Australia, an NCB team visited a courier firm and zeroed in on a box containing a steel table, he said.

"While examining the table, drug packets were found concealed inside specially designed cavities. These packets contained a white powder which turned out to be 9.8 kg of amphetamine. We have also seized 2.5 kg of Zolpidem Tarterate tablets and 6.545 kg of Tramadol tablets, all cumulatively worth Rs 3 crore," he said.

A probe led to the arrest of one V Singh on Wednesday, while his interrogation resulted in the nabbing of his associates G Mishra and P Sharma from Mumbai.

"A huge consignment of illicitly diverted pharmaceutical drugs was found from their premises. This was ready to be dispatched to foreign destinations. We seized 9,800 Zolpidem Tarterate tablets and 18,700 Tramadol tablets in this follow-up action," he said.

The investigation revealed the accused are well acquainted with the functioning of the international parcel mechanism and have been involved in the trafficking of drugs previously, the official said.

The syndicate was in this business for the past two to three years and was misusing documents for sending such drug consignments, he said.

A detailed probe into the racket is underway, the official added.

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