BENGALURU: The Customs department seized 475kg of ephedrine, a banned substance, worth an estimated Rs 24 crore, on Friday. Officials seized 50kg of the substance at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) while it was being smuggled to Malaysia. The department said this is the largest single seizure in South India. Officials from multiple enforcement agencies — Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and state police — told that Bengaluru is increasingly being used as a transit point to meet the demand in other places. Additional commissioner of customs D Anil said that the Central Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the department, based on specific intelligence, intercepted export cargo at the Air Cargo Complex of KIA and found two bags with 50kg of ephedrine, valued at an estimated Rs 2.50 crore, being sent along with a consignment (81 bags) declared as ammonium chloride. After seizing the export consignment at the airport, CIU officials raided a godown from where the consignment originated. "Investigation is still on. The driver who brought the consignment helped us reach the godown, we broke it open and found another 425kg (17 bags) worth an estimated Rs 21.50 crore. The total seizure is now 475kg, valued at Rs 24 crore," another senior officer, who was part of the investigation, told STOI. He said that initial investigations revealed that the driver was not connected with the smugglers, and the godown owner had rented it to a third party. "We are on the lookout for the tenant. The owner will be sharing the rental agreement with us, which should give us a lead," the officer said. A controlled substance, ephedrine is a precursor in medical preparations, and regulated under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, "contravention of which shall result in imprisonment of not less than 10 years and penalty".