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

A Ugandan woman has been arrested at the Mumbai international airport after she was found to be carrying cocaine worth Rs 890 crore concealed in her hair wig and undergarment a DRI official said on Wednesday reported news agency PTIBased 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 PTIInitially 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 PTIThe Ugandan national was trying to smuggle the narcotic substance by adopting an unusual modus operandi which made the recovery challenging the official said reported PTIAfter interrogation the passenger was placed under arrest he said reported PTIThe apex antismuggling 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 PTIIn 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 PTIBased 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 antismuggling agency said in a statement reported PTIOne 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 PTIAfter painstaking efforts the suspect was identified and intercepted at a hotel near the airport where he was staying said the statement reported PTIA 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 PTITravel documents available with him suggested he carried the bag during his journey from the West African country to Mumbai the DRI said reported PTIThe 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 PTIThe accused was arrested and remanded to judicial custody by a local court the central agency said reported PTIAn investigation was underway to locate and apprehend key members of the drug syndicate to which he was associated it added reported PTIWith inputs from PTI