Portuguese man held with cocaine at airport

Mendes Afonso Domingos (50) had reportedly received the consignment at Sao Paulo in Brazil,from where he flew to Dubai and then to Chennai.

NCB sleuths intercepted Mendes at Anna International Airport based on a tip off about a foreign national smuggling cocaine into the city. Even though an initial search revealed nothing on his possession, the officers found the consignment of pure cocaine in six cans labelled processed food in his check-in luggage.

Travelling on a tourist visa, Mendes had been instructed that he would receive details about his accommodation in the city on WhatsApp.

“A man was supposed to receive the consignment at the hotel after which Mendes was to return to Portugal. We are probing who booked the room for him,” said an NCB officer, adding that they were in search of the man Mendes was supposed to deliver the contraband to and his links in Chennai.

The cocaine is suspected to have been sourced directly from the production belt in South America. Mendes, believed to be working for the South American drug cartel, was in Chennai for the first time, added the officer.

This is the fourth cocaine seizure by this NCB zonal unit this year.