Heroin worth over Rs 100 crore seized at Mumbai airport; woman from Ghana among two held

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized 16 kilograms of heroin worth more than Rs 100 crore at the Mumbai Airport, and arrested a passenger and a woman from Ghana in this connection, an official said on Thursday.

The Ghanaian woman was nabbed from a hotel in Delhi as part of the DRI's follow-up action in the case, he said.

The Mumbai unit of the DRI had laid a trap on Tuesday at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on a specific tip-off that a passenger travelling from Malawi, an African country, to Mumbai via Qatar was trying to smuggle narcotic drugs into the country, he said.

"As part of the trap, a surveillance and tracking team of DRI officers was positioned at the airport and intercepted a suspected passenger," he said. During the search of his luggage, the DRI officers found 16 kg heroin that was concealed in cavities made in the trolley bags, the official added. The value of the seized heroin is more than Rs 100 crore in the international market, he said, adding that the passenger was placed under arrest and was remanded in the DRI custody by the local court.

"In a follow-up action, the DRI officers apprehended a woman from Ghana, who was to take the delivery of the smuggled contraband in Delhi," he said. "The female Ghanaian national was nabbed from a hotel in Delhi when she came to take the delivery of the drug," the official said. She has been arrested and being brought to Mumbai on transit remand granted by a court in Delhi, he said, adding that investigation into the case is underway.