A Namibian passenger who landed in Kempegowda International Airport on Monday morning brought with him a big surprise for the sleuths of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
He was caught trying to smuggle cocaine in his gastrointestinal tract. He had swallowed capsules filled with the contraband. A total of 45 capsules were taken out from his body at a city hospital by Monday night.
Sources with the Bengaluru Zonal Unit of the NCB said the 38-year-old passenger was intercepted at KIA after he disembarked from an Etihad Airways flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Abu Dhabi. “We had specific information that an African national was smuggling contraband into Bengaluru from South America. We caught him before he could slip out of the city airport,” said an investigating officer.
The Namibian initially tried to evade quizzing by the NCB sleuths but soon gave in and admitted carrying cocaine capsules in his body, which he had swallowed, the officer added.
He was taken to the Victoria Hospital in fort area. An x-ray revealed pellets containing the contraband, wrapped in latex gloves or condoms, in his gastrointestinal tract.
Doctors at the hospital removed 45 capsules till Monday evening. Each contained nearly 15 gm of cocaine. There are more capsules in his body.
Investigators suspect that he may be carrying over 675 gm of cocaine worth more than Rs. 3 crore in the international market, sources said. On January 19, another Namibian national had been arrested by NCB at KIA while trying to smuggle 20 kgs of Ephedrine worth Rs 60 lakhs into Bengaluru.
