Calcutta: A woman gets off a train in Howrah with a book in her hands.

She settles in a car and opens the book - to check if the Malana cream kept in a cavity carved out of the pages is intact.

Books, lipstick cases and perfume containers are a favourite with peddlers to smuggle drugs into Calcutta, police said.

The city has graduated from "herbal drugs" such as charas and ganja to chemical ones such as LSD and cocaine in the past few years because of high demand and easy availability, the police claimed.

Last year, city cops had information about an actress reaching the city with Malana cream hidden in a book.

They apparently couldn't track her down because of "lack of information" regarding the purported deals she were to struck with buyers in the city.

The Narcotics Control Bureau on Sunday seized a consignment of charas being smuggled into the city from Himachal Pradesh.

"There is no denial that these days chemical drugs are easily available in the city," an officer in Lalbazar said.

"Earlier, people had to place orders and wait for a week or so for the delivery. Now, you just need to know the right person and get it within a few hours."

The police said they had specific information about drugs being sold outside certain reputable schools and colleges in the guise of lozenges and chocolates.

Cops haven't seized any such drugs so far, though.

"Most of the drugs are from north India - Haryana, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh," the officer said.

"Carriers usually travel by train to avoid surveillance... and it makes our job more difficult."

Lipstick cases, perfume bottle lids and books are used to conceal drugs, which are transported in the safety of handbags, the police said.

Once they reach the city, the drugs change hands depending on the financial capacity of the buyer and the demand in the market.

For example, a pinch of LSD can cost anything between Rs 600 and Rs 1,200 depending on "market conditions". A few grammes of cocaine can cost anything between Rs 7,000 and Rs 25,000.