Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (MS)

Bengaluru, Aug 22: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) of the city have arrested a Nigerian national on charges of smuggling cocaine worth Rs 11 crore. The tablets which were found in the stomach of the arrested accused were recovered and confiscated by the police.

The accused was arrested at the Kempe Gowda International airport here. He arrived from Johannesburg into the city on August 19. His ticket package contained free food, water and beverages. But it is said that he refused to take any of these.

DRI had received a tip-off of cocaine being smuggled into India from overseas, and hence the authorities had kept a watch on nationals arriving from West Asia. As the flight in which the accused was travelling landed at the international airport, the sleuths of DRI also came to know that the accused had not consumed any food or water during his flight. The DRI officials immediately got alerted and checked the baggage of the accused. As they could not find any contraband goods in his baggage, they subjected him to scanning. During scanning it came to light that the accused was carrying drugs in his stomach.

The accused was immediately shifted to Victoria hospital in the city and the cocaine tablets were removed from the stomach.

It has come to light during the interrogation that the accused had arrived in the city to hand over the drugs to an unknown stranger. He also said that a room was booked in a hotel where he was scheduled to meet the stranger.