Bid to smuggle Rs 14.2 cr cocaine from Ethiopia foiled; Foreign national held in Chennai

CHENNAI: In a major seizure made by the Customs department in recent times, over 1,000 grams of banned cocaine worth Rs 14.2 crore was recovered at the international airport here.

A woman passenger hailing from Kenya has been arrested in this connection and remanded to judicial custody.

Sleuths of the Customs department had on December 7 intercepted the passenger on her arrival from Addis Ababa and recovered 90 units of cylindrical hyperdense objects that were ingested by her, a press release from the Principal Commissioner of Customs R Srinivasa Naik said on Tuesday.

Further investigations confirmed that the cylindrical hyperdense objects contained cocaine, a psychotropic substance covered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.

"A total of 1,424 grams of cocaine was recovered from her possession, which is valued at around Rs 14.2 crore in black market," the release said.

The passenger has been arrested and remanded to judicial custody, it added.

In a separate incident on December 15, the department officials seized gold worth Rs 1.28 crore and arrested a cabin crew member of an airliner and a passenger for their alleged involvement in the crime.

Based on suspicious behaviour of the passenger, sleuths interrogated the person, who had confessed to handing over the gold to a cabin crew member inside the flight.

A personal examination of the cabin crew member led to the retrieval of 1.7 kgs of gold that was concealed in the inner garments. The passenger and the cabin crew member have been arrested. Investigation is on.