In what has been claimed as a second major seizure within a span of two months, police today said they seized 6.45 kg of morphine, worth Rs 6.45 crore in the international market, from a bus operating on the Cumbum-Rameswaram route.

The Police, which raided the bus on a tip-off, found the stuff abandoned in bags kept under a seat. The contraband was meant to be smuggled out to Sri Lanka, police said, adding that no one has been arrested in this connection. It is not made clear by the police whether the contraband was meant for supply to cancer patients in Sri Lanka or for use as drugs by drug addicts.

Two months ago, police had seized 6 kg of morphine from a Rameswaram-bound bus.

Morphine is used by cancer patients to relieve them of excruciating pain during the terminal stages of the disease. Access to morphine has been allowed at specified outlets in the state following the amendment to the Narcotics and Psychotropic Drugs Act, 1985.

Though tough legislation is in place to ensure that no illicit dealings in morphine is allowed, seizure of morphine has been reported on six other occasions in the state. While cancer patients do not get the supply of morphine on a regular basis, smugglers and dealers supply smuggled morphine at an exhorbitant rate to these patients.