Mumbai Customs seized 74 kgs of drugs at airport

In the biggest drug bust at the Mumbai airport, Customs officials seize 74 kgs of drug Methaqualone from a woman passenger on Wednesday morning. The drugs worth Rs 7.4 crores were retrieved from three checked-in bags.

Officials from the Air Intelligence Unit intercepted passenger Chambo Fatma Basil, who travelled from Dar es Salaam to Mumbai via Doha using Qatar Airways.

“This is one of the biggest seizures we have had till date. The bags were so heavy because of the drugs that the woman paid Rs 1 lakh for excess luggage. She claimed it was her first time as a drug mule as she was not aware of the contents as the bag was given to her by her cousin,” said Milind Lanjewar, additional commission of Customs, Mumbai airport.

The passenger has been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, Act and will be produced before the court by evening, said officials.

Major drug busts at the airport this year involved women, said Customs officials.

On May 18, Customs had seized 13 kg of the same drug, worth Rs 1.29 crore, hidden inside false compartment of a suitcase carried by a Zimbabwean woman passenger.

In February, the Customs’ Labrador sniffed out 9.9 kg of Ephedrine worth Rs 9.9 lakh from a Malawian woman passenger’s checked-in baggage at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA). This was the third such drug haul cracked by the Customs’ canine unit in the financial year, the two first worth Rs 25 crore, added Customs officials.

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Source:Indianexpress