MULTAN, Dec 16: The custom authorities recovered 73kg heroin from a Dubai-bound consignment at the local airport on Thursday.

The custom freight unit inspected on suspicion a consignment of bed sheets and pillows booked for Aero Asia's flight No 812 and recovered as many as 295 packets containing 73kg heroin.

Collector Custom Nazim Saleem told Dawn that the consignment was to be sent by the flight scheduled to take off for Dubai at 10:30pm. He said the consignment was booked by the Multan sub-office of a Lahore-based firm having its head office in the Garden Town area of the provincial capital.

The destination address of the consignment was given in Dubai as PO Box No 5514 in the name of a firm called Freight Works. He said so far a clearing agent, Waseem Ahmad, had been arrested. The customs department has, however, handed over the case for further investigation to the Anti-Narcotics Force.