Mumbai Mumbai zonal unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials arrested a foreign national at the Mumbai international airport while smuggling 6.90 kg of cocaine worth nearly ₹69 crore.
The 24-year-old foreigner was travelling with a trolley bag in which the contraband material was concealed in packets of some eatables, DRI sources said.
The accused, Arturs Leo Zinbergs, is a national of Latvia, a country in Europe. He was detained on Monday on his arrival at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport based on the specific input the central agency had received.
His personal search led to no recovery of any narcotics substance. Then his brown trolley bag was searched and besides a pair of ladies sandals and garments, five cardboard boxes of ‘kisabor’ were found in the bag.
“Upon opening the boxes, small packets of ‘kisabor creme’ were found. When these packets were cut open, white coloured powder packed in double plastic layering was found. On testing the said powder in a NDPS field test kit, it turned out to be cocaine,” the DRI source added.
A total of 6.90kg of cocaine was seized and the accused was taken into custody and booked for smuggling commercial quantities of the drugs. The commercial quantity of cocaine is specified at 100 grams.
During interrogation, the accused claimed before DRI officials that he met a person by the name Andryu Don Dyego in Latvia, who gave him the contact of a Brazilian person. This Brazilian man had given him the contraband to smuggle it to Mumbai against some monetary benefits, DRI sources said.
To stay off the radar of law enforcement agencies, the accused foreigner had first travelled from Sao Paulo to Doha by a Qatar airways flight and later from Doha to Mumbai in an IndiGo flight.
The accused has been charged under sections 8(C), 21, 23, 28, 29 and 30 of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.