Customs officials at the Delhi Airport seized eight kilograms of heroin, valued at around Rs 53 crore in the international market, from two Afghan nationals who had travelled to India from Tehran via Dubai on Sunday, officials said.

The duo had smuggled the drugs by concealing it in at least 30 bottles of hair colour and two bottles of shampoo.

Cases of drug smuggling are on the rise as Customs officials at the Delhi International Airport have now seized over ₹ 600 crore between December 2020 and June this year, officials said. In the same period, 18 foreigners and two Indians were arrested in 14 cases.

Heroin from Afghanistan is also coming in large quantities through the sea route. Two huge consignments of heroin valued at a whopping Rs 4,500 crore in the international market were seized at the Jawahar Lal Nehru port in Mumbai last month.

During investigations it was found that large quantities of heroin concealed in bags and cartons were being smuggled from Afghanistan through Iran's Chabahar port into Mumbai via Jawahar Lal Nehru port.

The Delhi Police had also seized the largest heroin haul ever when they discovered 354 kg of drugs worth more than ₹ 2,500 crore at a house in Faridabad,

Four people were arrested and officials are investigating a narco-terrorism angle as links to Pakistani sources of funding have also emerged in the case.