Thai Woman Nabbed With Rs 40 Crore Of Cocaine At Mumbai Airport

A Thai national woman was arrested at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (Mumbai) for alleged cocaine trafficking. The drug enforcement agency Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) caught the 21-year-old woman with cocaine worth at least Rs 40 crore, the news agency Asian News International reported. The DRI allegedly got information from reliable sources about suspicious activity by the woman who arrived from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. After an extensive search, the woman was found guilty of possessing cocaine.

The DRI told the media that earlier investigations found the woman to be clear of suspicion. However, a closer inspection of her trolley bag uncovered multiple packets containing a white powder-like substance, which upon testing was confirmed as cocaine worth crores. The arrested woman has been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985. Further details are yet to arrive.

Similar Instances

In another case, a Kenyan national woman was nabbed on December 29 and charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act after the DRI seized cocaine worth Rs 15 crore from her.  The drug was concealed in a bottle of cosmetics in her luggage, DRI officials said. The passenger had arrived from Nairobi, police said. 

The woman was found with two packets of white powders-- one in a shampoo bottle, and one in a bottle of body wash, The Print reported. The powder was confirmed to be 1,490 grams of cocaine upon verification.

A few days before that, a Ugandan woman was arrested and charged under the NDPS Act at Mumbai airport last month for possessing drugs worth Rs 9 crores, the DRI said on December 20, according to a Times of India report. Allegedly, the woman concealed the drugs in her bra and wig by the drug enforcement agency. 

Reportedly, the DRI has uncovered numerous modus operandi in the past, ranging from concealment methods like black cocaine, concealing drugs in sanitary pads, liquid cocaine in whisky bottles, to cocaine in moisturizer bottles, etc, TOI reported. DRI Mumbai officers intercepted the woman, who had also arrived from Addis Ababa and quashed her attempt to smuggle close to 890 grams of contraband into India by concealing them in her bra and wig.