Three arrested for smuggling heroin worth ₹84 crore

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Tuesday arrested three passengers at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and seized nearly 12 kg heroin worth around ₹84 crore

Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Tuesday arrested three passengers at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and seized nearly 12 kg heroin worth around ₹84 crore.

The contraband was ingeniously concealed in trolley bags and file folders to hoodwink the law enforcement agencies. (HT Photo)

Based on a specific input, DRI officials intercepted one Rukshana Shaikh, who had arrived from Harare in Zimbabwe by Kenya Airways.

“Examination of her baggage resulted in the recovery and seizure of 11.94 kg of creamy granules. On testing, the substance tested positive for heroin,” a DRI official said.

The contraband was ingeniously concealed in trolley bags and file folders to hoodwink the law enforcement agencies. The DRI officers also identified and nabbed two recipients of the consignment, Amir Sayyed, 40, and Raees Meerza, 38, who had come to receive Shaikh.

Their sustained interrogation revealed that they were acting on instructions of a Nigerian national based in Delhi. The foreigner will always contact them over the phone without revealing his identity, the official added.

DRI sources said that the accused used to contact Sayyed and ask him to arrange a person for smuggling drugs from Zimbabwe or Kenya to India. The foreigner will give ₹1.50 lakh for every successful delivery to him in Delhi. He will also arrange passport and other travelling documents and also take care of travelling expenses and hotel stay of the carrier in Zimbabwe.

On the Nigerian national’s instructions, Sayyed had approached Meerza who asked Shaikh if she would smuggle drugs from Zimbabwe to India for a good amount of money. After Shaikh accepted the proposal, the Nigerian national got her passports and visa prepared.

According to the plan, Shaikh went to Zimbabwe via Addis Ababa on February 7. In Harare, an African woman handed over her two bags in a hotel. Shaikh knew that the bags contained narcotics and willingly tried to smuggle the same to India, the source added.

A probe has revealed that in the past Sayyed and Meerza had similarly made two individuals smuggle drugs from Zimbabwe and Kenya.

All the three were booked under the relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.