A Sierra Leone national has been arrested at the Mumbai airport in India and 74 cocaine-filled capsules were later removed from his body by a team of doctors.
Officials said the Sierra Leonean national (name withheld) was attempting to smuggle cocaine worth Rs 11 crore in capsules concealed in his body.
The man was arrested by the DRI on March 28 and the drug-filled capsules, weighing 1,108 grams, were removed from his body by a team of doctors at the state-run J J Hospital on Saturday, they said.
As per an official statement issued by the DRI on Sunday, the anti-smuggling agency, based on specific information, arrested the Sierra Leone national upon his arrival at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on March 28.
During questioning, the accused revealed that he had ingested cocaine capsules in bid to smuggle the banned narcotic substance into India.
Following a court order, the accused was admitted to the JJ Hospital where a team of doctors removed 74 cocaine capsules from his abdomen, the DRI statement said, adding that the man has been arrested and booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and sent to judicial custody.
Notably, this is the second case in a week involving a Sierra Leone national held with cocaine in India.
On March 24, a woman from the West African nation was arrested with 1,979 grams of cocaine valued at Rs 19.79 crore. She had concealed the drug in shoes, moisturiser, shampoo bottles, and antiperspirants.
