Four men have been arrested in Chennai for allegedly sending narcotics to Calcutta using a courier service. From Calcutta, the contraband would be sent to Australia, an officer of the Narcotics Control Bureau said.

The officer said the men were sending large quantities of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, banned narcotics that are used to produce metaphetamine, which is commonly known as crystal meth. Pseudoephedrine and ephedrine both sell for around Rs 1 lakh a kg in the illegal drug market.

The drugs were allegedly hidden inside showpieces such as vases and candle stands.

The bureau had seized two consignments of the drugs around 10 days back from a courier company in the city. Around 6kg of pseudephedrine was seized on October 11 and around 4kg of ephedrine on October 13.

“We found that both consignments had been sent from Chennai. The receiver was to send them to Australia,” the officer said.

Officers of the agency then started tracking the consignment and sent a team to Chennai, from where the accused were arrested.

The arrested men have been identified as Mohammad Hamid Alam, who hails from Bihar; and Kadir Ibrahim, Tabrej M. and Bashir Ahmed, all residents of Chennai. The officers are also trying to track down the receiver in the city.

The four accused in custody are being brought to the city.