The city police have taken on board courier and parcel service firms to combat drug trafficking, and have specified guidelines for checking the crime.

At a meeting with the managers of the firms on May 19, 2026(Tuesday), Commissioner of Police (CoP), Coimbatore City, N. Kannan, advocated storage of CCTV footage for a minimum of 30 days, and to maintain registers to compile KYC (know your customer) data of the senders and receivers of parcels, including Aadhaar card, voter identity card, family card and phone number.

In case of suspicion, the managers were instructed to pass on information to the jurisdictional police.

Instances of suspicious parcels, false address and phone number, and suspicious person must be brought to the notice of the police, the CoP said.

The courier firms, Mr. Kannan said, must be on guard to observe the pattern of receivers taking delivery of parcels based on phone calls.

The CoP advocated scrutinising the parcels with scanners to make sure that ‘stamp’ (Lysergic acid diethylamide - known commonly as LSD or heroin) narcotics are not delivered.

The courier firms were, in particular, advised to tightly scrutinise parcels coming in from other States, particularly Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, to rule out delivery of narcotics.

Parcels must be checked thoroughly to rule out presence of explosives, drugs, illegal weapons, banned materials and lottery tickets, the CoP emphasised.

The managers of the firms must determine veracity of mobile phones on parcels before delivery, and keenly check the materials sent from abroad to foreign students studying in the city colleges.

The background of the employees and antecedents, as also that of the drivers of parcel vans, and delivery workers must be stored digitally.

The staff of the courier firms were advised to follow the stipulated norms while delivering parcels to women and aged people.

The firms were instructed to submit details of their offices to the jurisdictional police.

Tip-off on suspicious persons could be made over phone to 8190000100. Confidentiality will be maintained, the Commissioner assured.

Deputy Commissioners N. Devanathan ( Coimbatore North) and G. Karthikeyan (Coimbatore South) also took part.