The Central Intelligence Unit (CIU) of Mumbai Customs department has arrested a top official with a Bengaluru-based pharma company, after investigations allegedly pinpointed his involvement in smuggling Tramadol, a scheduled drug in India, to Sudan earlier this year.

A potent painkiller in high demand on the black market, Tramadol carries the dubious distinction of being used by soldiers of the Islamic State (IS) while on the battlefield. Customs officials said that on February 23 this year, the CIU had intercepted a consignment at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, which was declared to be Tamol-X, a calcium carbonate tablet, but was found to contain 21 packages of a total of 10.5 lakh tablets of Tramadol.