2 arrested with heroin worth Rs 90 crore at Delhi's IGI airport

Customs officials at Indira Gandhi International Airport seized a total of 12.9 kilograms of Heroin on Friday night from two Ugandan nationals who had arrived from Nairobi (Kenya) via Abu Dhabi.

As per a press release by the Ministry of Finance, the value of the seized narcotics is approximately pegged at Rs 90 crore as per the prevailing international prices.

The narcotics and the smugglers had passed through several jurisdictions including Uganda, Kenya and India, before being intercepted. The said heroin was concealed in the false bottom of their check-in luggage, the statement said.

"The baggage of the passengers was also sniffed by the canines of the Dog Squad of the Indian Customs stationed at the Delhi Airport and the canine indicated the presence of some narcotic substance in the baggage. On detailed personal and baggage search and questioning, the lady passengers admitted to having brought the heroine in their checked-in baggage by ingeniously concealing the Heroin in the specially made cavities beneath the fake layer of fibre-plastic base on both the sides of the suitcases. It was vacuum packed in plastic and paper bags containing the crystalline form of off-white-coloured powder/granules of Heroin." the release said.

During the questioning, one of the women passengers revealed that she was introduced to a Kenyan national, who had promised her money in exchange for delivery of certain goods in Delhi. Thus, on this invite, the women passengers travelled to Nairobi from Kampala by road where the Kenyan handed over a bag to be delivered in Delhi while also providing tickets and certain documents to cover her visit as a medical tourist.

She was supposed to deliver the goods to a person who would contact her on exit. When she was intercepted by Customs officials, she was found to be in possession of a bag with a false bottom/cavity where 5.4 kilograms of Heroin was concealed.

"The other female passenger was also intercepted in the same flight in an almost similar manner wherein she was found to be in possession of two bags with false bottom/cavity containing a cumulative of 7.5 kilograms of concealed heroin. During her preliminary questioning, the lady passenger revealed that she was sent by her sister from Kampala to Nairobi by road and from there to Delhi via Abu Dhabi by the aforementioned flight. This passenger was also possessing certain documents to fake the profile of a medical tourist," the release added.

The success against the drug smuggling menace comes in the wake of an earlier seizure of approximately 3 kilograms of heroin from a Kenyan National who had arrived in the intervening night of October 28 and 29 from Nairobi via Sharjah. Before also, on April 23 this year, two Indian nationals who were coming from Uganda were intercepted with 2 kilograms of heroin wherein investigation resulted in the identification of 3 more accused persons who are based out of Uganda.

The Delhi Customs have seized more than 100 kg of heroin in this calendar year, as per the release. More than 26 persons have been arrested. Given the spurt in the attempts to smuggle in narcotics through the passenger route, Indian Customs have heightened the scrutiny and checking of suspects through robust intelligence gathering mechanisms and pin-pointed profiling at all the international airports.

( With inputs from ANI )

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