Mumbai: Ugandan woman held at airport with cocaine worth Rs 8.9 cr

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A Ugandan woman has been arrested at the Mumbai international airport after she was found to be carrying cocaine worth Rs 8.90 crore concealed in her hair wig and undergarment, a DRI official said on Wednesday, reported news agency PTI.

Based on a specific information, the Mumbai zonal unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) laid a trap at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport here on Tuesday and apprehended the woman passenger when she arrived from Entebbe via Nairobi, the official said, reported PTI.

Initially, the DRI sleuths did not recover anything on searching her luggage. But when they checked the hair wig and bra pads worn by the woman, they found 890 gm of cocaine concealed in them, he said, reported PTI.

The Ugandan national was trying to smuggle the narcotic substance by adopting an unusual modus operandi, which made the recovery challenging, the official said, reported PTI.

After interrogation, the passenger was placed under arrest, he said, reported PTI.

The apex anti-smuggling agency has busted numerous modus operandi adopted by smugglers, ranging from methods like concealment of drug in sanitary pads, liquid cocaine in whisky bottle, cocaine in moisturiser bottles, etc, he added, reported PTI.

In another case, an Indian national who checked in a Mumbai hotel after arriving from Sierra Leone has been found in possession of 4 kg of cocaine valued at Rs 40 crore, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said, reported PTI.

Based on specific information, the DRI team conducted a search in a hotel room near the Mumbai airport on Monday and recovered the drug kept in two packets concealed in a travel bag by the accused, who has been arrested, the apex anti-smuggling agency said in a statement, reported PTI.

One of the passengers who had landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport from Sierra Leone was under the DRI lens as the agency suspected he smuggled narcotic substances into India, it said, reported PTI.

After painstaking efforts, the suspect was identified and intercepted at a hotel near the airport where he was staying, said the statement, reported PTI.

A thorough examination of the luggage in his room resulted in the recovery of two packets having a white powdery substance, which were ingeniously concealed in the upper and lower compartments of a trolley bag found in his possession, reported PTI.

Travel documents available with him suggested he carried the bag during his journey from the West African country to Mumbai, the DRI said, reported PTI.

The recovered powdery substance, on examination with a field testing kit, was found to be cocaine, a drug covered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and was seized, reported PTI.

The accused was arrested and remanded to judicial custody by a local court, the central agency said, reported PTI.

An investigation was underway to locate and apprehend key members of the drug syndicate to which he was associated, it added, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)