Delhi man arrested with cocaine worth ₹16 crore

The cocaine was ingeniously concealed in cloth buttons the passenger, identified as Ankit Singh, was carrying while flying from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

The Mumbai Customs on Thursday evening arrested a flyer at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and seized cocaine worth around ₹16 crore.

Delhi man arrested with cocaine worth ₹16 crore

The cocaine was ingeniously concealed in cloth buttons the passenger, identified as Ankit Singh, was carrying while flying from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

The Customs officials examined his baggage after the scanning machine detected suspicious substance in the bag. The search led to recovery of around 1,600 grams of white powdery substance that on testing turned out to be cocaine.

“The contraband was concealed in the buttons of kurtas and bags by creating false cavities inside the buttons,” a statement by Customs read.

During questioning, Singh, who hails from Delhi, revealed that the said bag was handed over to him by a friend of one of his relatives in Addis Ababa.

The officials extracted more information from him and are further verifying the same. The officials are also trying to trace other members of the racket. They suspect the source of the said drug consignment could be any of Ethiopia’s neighbouring countries and Ethiopia was just a transit point.

Singh has been arrested under relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. He has been remanded in 14-day judicial custody.