The seized Cocaine at the IGI Airport in New Delhi
New Delhi: The Delhi Airport Customs seized 5.85 kg of cocaine, the biggest at any airport in India, at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, here last night.
In the past six months, Customs at the IGI Airport alone has booked no less than 16 cases under NDPS Act, the highest number at any airport in the Country. In the process, almost 33.70 kg of Heroin and 12.60 kg of Cocaine has been seized from International passengers, mostly nationals of African origin.
For the entire 2021-22, 35 cases were booked by Customs at IGI Airport, with a street value of drugs estimated at Rs. 887.35 crore. 34 passengers have also been arrested in the process.
Two distinct modus operandi have been observed in these seizures. Some of the passengers pack the drugs inside latex capsules, which are then swallowed by them in order to get past Customs officers easily at the Airport. Later, they eject these capsules after consuming laxatives, running a great risk to their own lives.
“This modus operandi is not only very difficult to detect, but also very difficult to retrieve,” said Customs officials today. The suspected passengers need to be admitted to government hospitals, where the extraction is conducted under medical supervision. This process often takes 4 to 5 days, sometimes longer. These passengers are kept constantly under strict observation and guarded day and night by the Customs officers. “The seizure of narcotics drugs at the airport is just the beginning of a tough, long legal battle that ensues later,” they said.
In the second method, the drug is concealed in specially made cavities in the hand-baggage or Checked-in baggage being carried by the passengers. Such cases are detected by the combined use of the Customs Canine Squad and High-resolution X-ray.
Both of these modus operandi has been detected at IGI Airport. The expanding market and the remunerative lucrativeness have ensured that there is no reduction in the relentless flow of drugs attempted to be smuggled into India through the airports.
– global bihari bureau
