The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Sunday said that it has recovered 165 capsules containing 1.811 kgs of heroin from two Ugandan nationals from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad, India.
The capsules were concealed in both the passengers’ stomach.
DRI said in a press note that it has received a “specific intelligence” that few passengers from Uganda arriving at Ahmedabad Airport were carrying narcotic substances with them. Based on the intelligence, the officers apprehended a Ugandan national on February 13. It was found that he had arrived from Entebbe airport via Sharjah International Airport.
During his checking, the officials found medicines from his personal baggage which are used for inhibiting bowel movement. The officers suspected that the passenger was carrying the drugs in his stomach. The Ugandan national was produced before a magisterial court seeking permission for his body check-up.
“On getting the permission, the CT-Scan was done and it showed various small capsules size foreign material inside the body of the said person scattered all over the abdomen from stomach, small intestine, large intestine and rectum,” a press note stated.
It said that two days later on February 15, the officers apprehended a woman passenger from Uganda at the city airport, who also landed from Entebbe airport via Sharjah. DRI has said that during interrogation, a similar pattern emerged and her CT-scan revealed that she was also carrying capsules inside her body.
“Both the passengers were admitted to civil hospital where medical teams ensured the excretion of the said capsules from their body. On recovering the said capsules, it was noticed that such capsules are filled with white-brown colour powder which appeared to be some narcotic drug. On testing the same, it was revealed that the substance in powder form is ‘Heroin’,” the press note stated.
DRI recovered a total of 165 capsules from the passengers in the hospital. Both were arrested formally on February 19 and were sent to jail under judicial custody. DRI has noted that “there is a rise in trafficking narcotic drugs by adopting this modus operandi where the drugs are packaged in small capsules form and secreted inside the body of the drug mules who carry the drug and hand over the same to the buyers in the country. Further, the drug mules were sent to India under the guise of a Business visit-Invitation letter received from local companies.”
The central agency has also mentioned how it made “a huge seizure of 2,988 kgs of heroin at Mundra Port in the month of September.” The investigation of this case has been handed over to the National Investigation Agency.
