DRI arrests Kenyan woman carrying liquid cocaine worth ₹20 cr

Kenyan national arrested at Mumbai airport for smuggling 1,983 grams of liquid cocaine worth ₹20 crore in shampoo bottles; suspected to be part of a drug syndicate.

MUMBAI: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI)’s Mumbai unit on Friday arrested a Kenyan national at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport for smuggling 1,983 grams of liquid cocaine worth ₹20 crore in the grey markets. The narcotic was found packed inside two shampoo/lotion bottles that were recovered from her baggage during examination.

The narcotic was found packed inside two shampoo/lotion bottles that were recovered from her baggage during examination. (HT Photo)

The passenger, a national of Kenya, had arrived from Nairobi. On her arrival at CSMIA, she was intercepted based on a specific intelligence received by the DRI against her, according to which she was suspected of carrying contraband after which she and her baggage were put under an examination, DRI sources said.

When the DRI officers tested the viscous, liquid substance, it turned out to be cocaine, which is covered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), 1985. The passenger was remanded to judicial custody by a city court where she was produced after her arrest.

The passenger is suspected of having acted as a carrier for an international narcotics trafficking syndicate, and she was questioned to establish the identities of her potential accomplices, handlers and end-users, agency sources said. DRI sources said the syndicate adopted the modus whereby they concealed the liquid cocaine in the shampoo/lotion bottles and the appearance of the viscous liquid was also like any typical shampoo/lotion, to make the detection difficult.

Agency sources said several seizures since last year pertained to smuggling bids by carriers using the air route, often employing unique concealment methods. Air carriers allegedly usually carry small quantities of narcotics – ranging from a few grams to a kilogram or two at the most but they go to great lengths to conceal the drugs and detecting them is always a challenge, agency sources said.

In a separate operation, the officers of DRI Mumbai in March seized 19.79 kg of cocaine, worth around ₹19.79 crore in illicit markets, from the alleged possession of a female foreign national, suspected of being the carrier of an international narcotics trafficking syndicate.