Nigerian lands at KIA with 99 cocaine capsules worth ₹20cr

Bengaluru: In probably the biggest cocaine smuggling bust involving a single suspect at Kempegowda International Airport, a Nigerian who flew down all the way from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 99 capsules of cocaine in his stomach was nabbed by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence sleuths here. The capsules weighing 2kg and worth Rs 20 crore were extracted from him over five days in a hospital. Sources said the smuggler, identified only as a 40-year-old Nigerian on a visiting visa to India for medical reasons, was intercepted by DRI’s Bengaluru unit soon after he landed at KIA on the morning of December 11 on an Ethiopian Airlines direct flight. Sleuths said he had swallowed the capsules before boarding the flight in Addis Ababa. The DRI team secured a magisterial order and took the Nigerian to the hospital. He was arrested and booked under the (NDPS) Act . Sleuths said the Nigerian had planned to take a domestic flight to Delhi after landing in Bengaluru and was scheduled to hand over the smuggled drugs to handlers in the national capital.

Nigerian with 99 cocaine capsules worth Rs 20 crore in stomach nabbed at Bengaluru airport

A Nigerian national attempted to smuggle two kilograms of cocaine in 99 capsules at Bengaluru Airport. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) apprehended him after his arrival from Addis Ababa. The cocaine, worth Rs 20 crore, was seized after the suspect underwent a five-day hospital stay for extraction. This incident marked the largest drug smuggling attempt by a single individual inside his body.

Nigerian national arrested in Chennai for smuggling cocaine worth Rs 12 crore

Customs officers at Chennai airport arrested a Nigerian national for smuggling 1.2 kg of cocaine worth Rs 12 crore from Ethiopia on December 12. The officers acted on information about possible drug smuggling and subjected passengers of a flight from Addis Ababa to rigorous searches. The Nigerian national was apprehended after giving contradictory replies to queries. He had swallowed 71 hyperdense capsules containing cocaine, which were later extracted. A total of 1,201 grams of cocaine was recovered. The suspect has been remanded in judicial custody.

Flyer from Nairobi held with cocaine worth Rs 40 crore

DRI arrests Bala Ganpathi Venkata Naidu, a 54-year-old native of Andhra Pradesh, for smuggling 4kg of cocaine worth Rs 40 crore from Nairobi. The contraband was found in a black-coloured trolley bag in Naidu's room at a guest house near Sahar International Airport. Naidu admits to smuggling the cocaine from Sierra Leone and reveals that he had previously smuggled contraband in February. In a separate case, the DRI arrests a Nigerian national, a key member of drug syndicates operating from Greater Noida, who was involved in the recovery of 2.5kg of cocaine.