The Air Intelligence unit of the Customs Department arrested two foreigners, both students, who attempted to smuggle pharmaceutical drugs worth over ₹ 2 crore to Doha from Kempegowda International Airport here on June 3.
According to officials, they were inspecting the bags of passengers through the scanner, and saw suspicious packages in trolley bags belonging to the accused. When they opened the bags, the officials found that all of them were filled with boxes of drugs, most of which were sleep-inducing pills.
They found that the duo — Mohammed Razaq Mahdi, 27, and Mostafa Ismail Dawood, 27,— were B.Pharm students. Razaq was studying at a university in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh and Mostafa was from RGUHS. The two were supposed to board a flight to Doha, but were arrested.
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“They are not revealing anything,” said a customs official. Meanwhile, customs sources said that usually sleep-inducing pills and syrups are smuggled abroad from India.
“We suspect it is because they are able to purchase the pharmaceutical drugs in bulk in India,” said a source.
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On June 4, the Air Intelligence unit recovered 10 gold biscuits weighing over 1,000 gm which they found hidden inside a seat on an aircraft that had arrived from Dubai. The total value of the seized gold is around ₹ 34.29 lakh.