Man held at Mumbai airport with 74 cocaine capsules of Rs 11 crore concealed in his body

Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has arrested a Sierra Leone national who was trying to smuggle cocaine valued at Rs 11 crore concealed in 74 capsules in his stomach, an official said.

The drug capsules, weighing 1,108 grams, were recovered from the man's body by doctors at the state-run J J Hospital here on Saturday, the official said.

Based on specific information, the man was apprehended by a DRI team at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport after his arrival in the city on March 28, the anti-smuggling agency said in a statement on Sunday.

During questioning, the man told DRI officials that he had ingested cocaine capsules in an attempt to sneak in the banned narcotic substance to India.

He was then admitted to the JJ Hospital after obtaining a court order. A team of doctors removed 74 cocaine capsules from his abdomen, the official said.

The man was later arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and sent to judicial custody, the DRI statement said.

This is the second case in seven days involving a Sierra Leone national held with cocaine at the Mumbai airport.

On March 24, a woman from the African nation was arrested with 1,979 grams of cocaine valued at Rs 19.79 crore. She had concealed the drug in shoes, moisturiser and shampoo bottles and antiperspirants.