Customs officials seized 5.85 kg cocaine valued at around Rs 90 crore at the Delhi airport on Wednesday night from a passenger who arrived on a flight from Lagos via Doha.
The man, a Liberian national, has been arrested by Customs officials as he was trying to smuggle in eight packets of cocaine in his bag.
According to information provided by the finance ministry, in the last six months as many as 16 cases of smuggling drugs have been booked by Customs officials at Delhi’s IGI Airport, the highest number at any airport in the country
In the process, almost 33.70 kg of heroin and 12.60 kg of cocaine has been seized from international passengers, mostly nationals of African origin.
For the entire financial year 2021-22, 35 cases have been booked by Customs at IGI Airport, with a street value of drugs estimated at Rs. 887.35 crore. As many as 34 drug smugglers have been arrested in connection with these cases.
Two distinct modus operandi have been observed in these seizures. Some of the passengers pack the drugs inside latex capsules, which are then swallowed by them in order to get past Customs officers easily at the Airport. Later, they eject these capsules after consuming laxatives, running a great risk to their own lives.
This modus operandi makes it difficult to detect and even recover the drugs. The suspected passengers need to be admitted to government hospitals, where the extraction is conducted under medical supervision. This process often takes 4 to 5 days and sometimes even longer.
In the second method, the drug is concealed in specially made cavities in the hand-baggage or Checked-in baggage being carried by the passengers. Such cases are detected by the combined use of the Customs Canine Squad and High-resolution X-ray.
Both these modus operandi have been detected at IGI Airport. The huge money involved in the sale of these drugs in a fast expanding illegal drug market continues to fuel the relentless flow of drugs attempted to be smuggled into India though the airports, the official statement said.
Also read: Customs officials nab smuggler carrying close to 1 kg gold at Hyderabad airport
