India Police Charge Amazon Executives Over Online Drug Sales

Indian police have charged executives from Amazon's local arm over claims the US retail behemoth's online portal was used to smuggle and sell marijuana.

Two men were arrested last week with 21 kilograms (46 pounds) of the drug in central Madhya Pradesh state and told officers they were using Amazon's India platform to ship their goods elsewhere in the country.

They admitted to shipping their crop by falsely marketing it as stevia leaves, a natural sweetener, according to a police report seen by AFP on Sunday.

Executives from Amazon's India unit had been included in the charges because of contradictions between evidence collected in the police investigation and responses received by the firm, the report said.

Neither police nor Amazon gave any indication of how many employees were facing charges.

Amazon said it was investigating the case and pledged full cooperation with police in a Sunday statement to AFP.

"We do not allow the listing and sale of products which are prohibited under law to be sold in India," a company spokesperson said.

India is a key market for Amazon with local investments worth $6.5 billion in the country since its 2013 debut.

The drugs case is the latest legal headache for the online marketplace's Indian arm, which is also facing an anti-trust probe along with Walmart subsidiary Flipkart.

Both firms are being investigated by competition watchdogs over claims they gave preferential treatment to some sellers.

Amazon also launched an internal probe after reports in September that one or more of its Indian employees had bribed government officials.

Copyright AFP. All rights reserved.

RECENT NEWS

OpenAI Faces Renewed Competitive Pressure

OpenAI is entering a more demanding phase of the consumer AI race after Sam Altman issued a call for staff to concentrat... Read more

META Prepares Sharp Cut To Metaverse Spending

Meta is preparing to scale back its metaverse ambitions as Mark Zuckerberg accelerates a strategic shift towards artific... Read more

BoE Loosens Capital Rules

The Bank of England has taken a significant step towards easing post-crisis regulation by lowering its estimate of the c... Read more

BlackRock Looks To Human Fund Managers

BlackRock is overhauling its flagship quantitative hedge fund as it prepares to challenge some of the industry’s most ... Read more

Nvidia Chip Demand Defies Talk Of A Slowdown

Nvidia has delivered another set of powerful quarterly results that eased investor nerves and strengthened confidence in... Read more

META Wins Antitrust Case

Meta has secured a decisive victory in one of the most significant US antitrust cases in years, after a federal judge re... Read more