40 lakhs worth cocaine found in passengers’ bags; foreigners booked

The smugglers try and smuggle in various goods, drugs, and other illegal items, trying to hoodwink the officials.

But not this time.

The sleuths of Narcotics Control Board (NCB) have arrested two foreign nationals including a woman on Wednesday morning from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), Mumbai, with 4.3 kilograms of cocaine which was concealed in the trolley bags of the duo.

The duo – Michael (35) and Mariya (25) – are Peruvian nationals and landed at the airport in the early morning of April 11 by Ethiopian Airlines flight from Adis Ababa, a senior officer from NCB told The Free Press Journal.

“The seized cocaine is believed to be sourced from Sao Polo, Brazil. The street price of the drug is about Rs 40 lakh,” the officer said. The sleuths have not yet come to conclusion whom and where the drug consignment was supposed to be delivered. “At present, we are interrogating both of them,” the officer said.

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The NCB sleuths received an alert from America’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regarding the smuggling. The NCB laid a trap and arrested the duo after they cleared emigration window at the international airport. The NCB officers are also checking how they cleared the emigration window despite they carried 4-kilogram cocaine concealed in the bag.

“The concealment of the drug inside trolley bags is nothing new. But how they cleared the emigration window at the airport is a matter of suspicion. We are investigating all possible angles to nab the chain,” said an NCB officer, who further added that ‘both of them could just be the carriers of drug and they might have been paid just to gain monetary benefit.’

At the time of going to the press, the duo was being interrogated at NCB zonal office in Mumbai. They have been booked under relevant sections of NDPS Act.

In drug trafficking case, the carriers are generally unaware of the final destination where the consignment is supposed to be delivered. The mastermind behind the racket keeps monitoring the consignment until it reaches the final destination. Drugs trafficking attracts Rigorous Imprisonment up to 20 years and penalty and even in certain cases up to death.