Customs nabs foreign national smuggling cocaine-filled pellets worth Rs 8.65 crore in stomach from Mumbai airport
The Mumbai Customs department Sunday arrested a foreign national at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport for allegedly trying to smuggle cocaine worth Rs 8.65 crore into India. The passenger had concealed the drugs inside his body, said officers.
According to the Customs, on the intervening night of May 24 and 25, based on spot profiling, one foreigner came under their radar. The passenger had arrived in Mumbai on the Uganda Airlines flight UR430.
'Upon questioning, the passenger exhibited signs of nervousness and uneasiness. Further examination and medical investigation revealed that the passenger had swallowed multiple, yellow-coloured pellets, which were later found to contain a coloured crumbled substance purported to be cocaine,' said a Customs official.
After following due legal process, Customs officers Wednesday seized the contraband purported to be cocaine, having a net weight of 866 grams, the Customs department stated.
The accused passenger was placed under arrest under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS). Efforts are being made to apprehend his associates to whom he was supposed to deliver the contraband. Customs officials are also checking if he had similarly smuggled drugs in the past.
As per government norms, 100 grams of cocaine is a commercial quantity, and the accused foreigner was carrying a considerable quantity for smuggling purposes, knowing that it was a banned drug. If convicted of smuggling a commercial quantity of drugs, the accused may be sentenced to imprisonment up to 20 years.
Earlier, in April, Customs department officials arrested three men and two women at the Mumbai airport while they were trying to allegedly smuggle hydroponic weed worth around Rs 30 crore from Bangkok. All were residents of Mumbai and travelling on different flights, the Customs officials had said. The arrested suspects faced serious charges under the NDPS Act, as commercial quantities of drugs had been seized from them.
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