The Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru.
Credit: DH Photo/B K Janardhan
Bengaluru: Busting a smuggling attempt at the Kempegowda International Airport, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seized cocaine worth Rs 40 crore and unearthed links to African gangs in Bengaluru city, the agency said on Saturday.
Sleuths of the DRI’s Bengaluru zonal unit intercepted a flier from Doha, Qatar, on July 18.
A top source in the DRI told DH that the arrested suspect was a 35-year-old man from the northern part of India and he played a role in supplying contraband to African gangs in Bengaluru engaged in drug peddling.
The modus in this case was unique: the suspect had hidden the banned narcotic substance inside the covers of two superhero comic books. DRI officers who were acting on specific inputs examined the suspect’s baggage and found two superhero comic books “that were unusually heavy”.
"The officers carefully recovered white powder concealed in the covers of the books. The powder tested positive for cocaine. The recovered cocaine, weighing 4006 grams (4.006 kg) and having an international market value of around Rs 40 crore, was seized under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985," the DRI said.
The passenger was subsequently arrested under provisions of the NDPS Act and was remanded in judicial custody.
During interrogation, the suspect told the DRI investigators that he had no clue about the concealed drugs in the magazines.
"He claimed that he was lured to bring the bag of trade goods and that he didn’t know there was cocaine inside it. The evidence fails to support this claim. It is being probed further," the top DRI source said.
The source further said the suspect’s profile was unassuming and that he had no prior criminal antecedents.
"It was a usual Bengaluru-Doha trip. He wasn't a frequent flier," the officer said. "Consumption is increasing at an alarming rate in the city. There is a need to create awareness among the parents and the civil society."
This is the DRI's biggest cocaine bust so far this year at the Bengaluru airport. Previously, in March, the DRI had recovered 3.186 kg of cocaine from a Ghanaian.
However, the DRI in the last three months recovered over a combined 15 kg of crystal meth, another banned narcotic substance, in three separate instances at the Bengaluru airport, underscoring the growing menace of narcotic smuggling.