Two Nigerians arrested with cocaine worth ₹30 cr inside their bodies
The accused had stuffed the contraband material into 167 small capsules and ingested them. The drugs were recovered from the carriers during their three-day stay at the hospital.
Mumbai Two Nigerians have been arrested at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport for trying to smuggle in nearly three kilograms of cocaine, worth approximately ₹30 crore, concealed in their bodies, according to the officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
The accused had stuffed the contraband material into 167 small capsules and ingested them. The drugs were recovered from the carriers during their three-day stay at the hospital.
The DRI officials had received a specific intelligence that narcotic substances were being smuggled into India by two Nigerian nationals, travelling from Lagos to Mumbai via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The agency posted a surveillance team of its officers at the CSMI Airport. On March 3, the suspected passengers (names not revealed by the agency) were intercepted by DRI officers. They were suspected of concealing narcotic substances inside their bodies.
The investigators, after securing permission from the concerned court, admitted the two foreigners to Sir JJ Hospital. The X-ray examination of the two passengers confirmed that they had ingested capsules containing some substance, a DRI officer said.
During their three-day stay at the hospital, the passengers purged a total of 167 capsules. The capsules had body packing, and when they were cut open, a white substance was found. The substance tested positive for Cocaine when checked on a field-testing kit, the officer added.
A total of 2.976 kg of cocaine have been recovered from the capsules and seized under the NDPS Act, 1985, the agency said on Tuesday.
The seized drugs are worth ₹29.76 crore in illicit market, the agency claimed.
Both the passengers were subsequently arrested under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act,1985 after their discharge from the hospital on Tuesday.
During their sustained interrogation, they revealed the names of some suspects to the agency. The officers are collecting more details on these wanted accused.
The DRI officials are checking if the arrested accused had similarly smuggled drugs into India in the past.
Under the NDPS Act, 100 grams of cocaine is considered a commercial quantity and the accused foreigners carrying it for smuggling purposes knowing that it was a banned drug. The offence attracts punishment of up to 20-years imprisonment, another DRI source said.
A city court has remanded the two accused to judicial custody, the DRI said.
