Kenyan national hides 1.5 litre liquid cocaine in moisturising bottles

MUMBAI: DRI seized 1.57L of liquid cocaine from a Kenyan passenger's lotion at CSMIA and arrested her. A Chadian man was caught with ₹3.86 crore gold.

MUMBAI: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Friday intercepted a Kenyan air passenger arriving from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa and seized two moisturising lotion bottles containing liquid cocaine from her luggage at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA).

Kenyan national hides 1.5 litre liquid cocaine in moisturising bottles

After examining her baggage, the agency initially didn’t find anything suspicious. However, upon closer scrutiny, they noticed two bottles of moisturising body lotion tested their contents using a field-testing kit, said a DRI officer. The liquid, which resembled body lotion, tested positive for cocaine.

“A total of 1.57 litre of liquid cocaine has been seized, which is valued around ₹15.71 crore in the illicit market. The female passenger has been arrested under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act. We are investigating to find out who was supposed to receive the consignment in India,” said the official.

Under the Nasha Mukt Bharat drive, central agencies have unearthed several such unique modus operandi that are employed by drug traffickers, especially in cases involving the trafficking of high-value narcotics like cocaine.

Smuggled gold worth ₹3.86 crore seized

On the same day, DRI officers intercepted a Chadian man arriving in the city from Addis Ababa. Upon searching him, they recovered foreign-origin gold bars weighing 4.015kg, valued at ₹3.86 crore, concealed inside the heels of his slippers.

DRI officers said the accused, in his voluntary statement, admitted to concealing the gold to evade detection by the Customs authorities.

He was arrested under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. Further investigation is in progress, the officer added.