The DRI officers interrogated the carrier after recovering 1,496 gm of cocaine from him and laid a trap to arrest the Ugandan woman who was supposed to receive the contraband in Navi Mumbai.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has arrested a man for allegedly smuggling cocaine worth Rs 15 crore to Mumbai from Ethiopia by concealing it in a duffle bag. The DRI also arrested a Ugandan woman who was supposed to accept delivery of the said contraband in Navi Mumbai.
The DRI said Sunday that based on intelligence inputs, Satly Thomas, 44, hailing from Kerala, who came via the flight ET 640 from Addis Ababa to Mumbai, was apprehended at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport Friday.
Examination of his luggage resulted in the recovery of 1,496 gm of white powder, purported to be cocaine, with a value of around Rs 15 crore in the illicit market, said officials.
Based on sustained interrogation of the passenger and surveillance, the DRI officers laid a trap and caught the recipient, Nakirijja Alice, 37, who came to collect the drugs at Vashi in Navi Mumbai.
A source said Thomas was promised a commission of Rs 1.5 lakh. The source added that he was also accused of smuggling drugs and had travelled to Ethiopia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa for similar purposes. He has so far earned more than Rs 5 lakh from this work, the source said. By The Express News Service