A woman travelling from Doha was arrested at Mumbai airport on Tuesday for smuggling cocaine worth Rs. 62 Crore. The woman was apprehended by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) when she was trying to leave the Mumbai airport on July 15.
In their statement to the press, DRI officers revealed that they had received a tip informing them that a female Indian national, coming from Doha to Mumbai on July 14, would be smuggling drugs into the country.
Acting on this piece of information, DRI officials intercepted the passenger at the Mumbai Airport on July 15.
The officials further reported that the woman was carrying 6 large packets of Oreos and three packs of chocolates in her luggage. Upon opening these, they discovered that all nine boxes were filled with capsules that contained a white powder, which they believed was cocaine.
All capsules were subsequently individually tested using the field test kit, which showed a positive match for cocaine.
A total of 300 such capsules carrying 6261 grams of Cocaine that hold an estimated value of ₹62.6 crore in the illegal market were recovered from the woman, DRI said in its statement.
Following the recovery, the passenger was arrested under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. Further investigation into the matter regarding its linkage to any crime syndicate remains underway.
DRI Mumbai recently also seized 1,139 grams of cocaine from a male passenger at Mumbai Airport. During further questioning, the passenger confessed to having ingested capsules containing narcotic drugs to smuggle them into India. Following his confession, the passenger was admitted to a nearby government hospital. The total amount of cocaine seized from the passenger holds an estimated illicit market value of Rs. 12 crore.