Kenyan woman held with cocaine worth Rs 15 crore at Chennai airport

CHENNAI: The sleuths from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence arrested a Kenyan woman and seized 850 grams of cocaine worth around Rs 15 crore at the Chennai airport.

Based on specific intelligence that a foreign woman linked to an international drug trafficking syndicate was arriving in Chennai from Ethiopia, carrying a large quantity of cocaine, a special DRI team intensified surveillance at Chennai airport on Monday morning.

The woman arrived at around 8.30 am on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa, after travelling from Kenya via Ethiopia on a tourist visa.

Officials grew suspicious of her behaviour during questioning as she gave evasive replies. Soon, she was taken to the Customs office for further interrogation. However, she allegedly refused to cooperate and remained silent during questioning. A thorough examination of her belongings did not reveal any contraband.

Later, the passenger was then taken to the airport hospital, where an X-ray examination of her abdomen revealed the presence of several capsules inside her stomach.

With the assistance of a medical team, officials recovered around 70 capsules from her stomach. On opening the capsules, officials found high-grade cocaine concealed inside them. The DRI seized the 850-grams of cocaine and arrested the woman under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Officials suspect that the accused is part of an international drug trafficking network and are investigating who was supposed to receive the narcotics in Chennai and whether other members of the syndicate are operating in the city.