Foreigner arrested at Mumbai airport for smuggling cocaine worth Rs 11 crore from West Africa
Officers with the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Sunday arrested an Ivory Coast national at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport for allegedly smuggling cocaine worth Rs 11.39 crore into India from a West African country.
The accused foreigner, identified as Ane Charles Joselin Kouame, had concealed the cocaine-stuffed capsules by ingesting them. The agency suspects a large-scale racket could be behind the smuggling.
The central agency on Sunday stated that on receiving specific intelligence regarding an Ivory Coast national who would be smuggling narcotics into India, DRI officers intercepted a male passenger who had arrived at Mumbai airport from Sierra Leone on Thursday.
During questioning, Kouame admitted to having ingested capsules containing narcotic drugs for smuggling them into India. He was immediately admitted to a nearby government hospital.
During his stay at the hospital over the past two days, the foreigner has expelled 67 capsules containing 1.139 kg of cocaine, which is valued at Rs 11.39 crore in the international illicit market, the DRI stated.
The recovered cocaine was seized under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and the accused passenger was subsequently placed under arrest.
The DRI is further probing the matter and trying to find out details of the person who was supposed to receive the contraband from the accused, who was playing the role of a carrier in lieu of a commission, sources said. The agency is also checking if the accused had come to India in the past with the intention of smuggling, sources added.
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