Tamil Nadu man arrested with cocaine worth ₹25 crore at city airport

The drug was being smuggled in the form of 12 soap bars. The agency has also arrested a Nigerian woman, from a Colaba hotel, who was tasked with collecting the contraband.

Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has arrested a 70-year-old Tamil Nadu man for allegedly smuggling cocaine worth ₹25 crore from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to India.

The DRI then laid a trap at a Colaba hotel and arrested a Nigerian woman, who had come to the hotel to collect the parcel from Rengasamy. More than ₹40,000 was recovered from her, which she was instructed to hand over to Rengasamy, a DRI source said. (Image for representation)

The drug was being smuggled in the form of 12 soap bars. The agency has also arrested a Nigerian woman, from a Colaba hotel, who was tasked with collecting the contraband.

The accused, Subburaj Rengasamy, was arrested by the DRI on Monday after he arrived at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport by an Ethiopian flight.

On examining his trolley bag, the officers found cocaine stuffed inside 12 soap bars. The seized cocaine is worth ₹25 crore in illicit international market. He was subsequently placed under arrest, said a DRI officer.

During probe, he revealed that around two weeks ago he was given the task of picking up the contraband from Addis Abba and smuggle it into India and hand it over to someone in Colaba. He was offered money for this.

The DRI then laid a trap at a Colaba hotel and arrested a Nigerian woman, who had come to the hotel to collect the parcel from Rengasamy. More than ₹40,000 was recovered from her, which she was instructed to hand over to Rengasamy, a DRI source said.

Both the accused have been arrested under relevant sections of Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

From the interrogation of the two accused, the DRI officials have learnt the names of people, who were giving instructions to them and also the person, who delivered the contraband to Rengasamy. The agency is working on the leads and trying to nab other members of the racket, another source said.