A Kenyan woman is currently detained by Indian authorities after being caught attempting to smuggle liquid cocaine into the country through Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA).
According to the Hindustan Times, the woman arrived at the airport from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, and a routine search of her luggage led to the discovery of the illegal drug.
Reportedly, the initial search did not reveal anything suspicious. However, officers from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) recovered two bottles of moisturising lotion from her bag that tested positive for cocaine.
The DRI officers reported that the discovery had stemmed from a tip-off. The two bottles held approximately 1.57 litres of the drug worth around ₹15.71 crore (about Ksh238 million in current exchange rates).
"A total of 1.57 litres of liquid cocaine have been seized, which is valued at around ₹15.71 crore in the illicit market. The female passenger has been arrested under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act. We are investigating to find out who was supposed to receive the consignment in India," a DRI official told the Indian publication.
"The modus operandi involved concealing liquid cocaine in moisturising lotion bottles, as the viscous appearance of the substance closely resembled that of actual lotion."
The country has been applying several central agencies to unearth several such unique modes of operation that are employed by drug traffickers, especially in cases involving the trafficking of high-value narcotics like cocaine.
At the Mumbai airport, several Kenyans, mostly women, have been caught smuggling drugs into the nation, also trying to mask it in several ways.
In another such bizarre incident at the same airport, a Kenyan woman, also travelling through Addis Ababa, was apprehended when she was found in possession of Ksh215 million worth of cocaine.
Customs officials at the airport grew suspicious of how she was acting and took her in for a further body search, where they recovered 90 cylindrical hyperdense objects in her stomach.
She was afterwards medically assisted to egest the objects, which later tested positive for cocaine.
Recently, on April 3, another Kenyan woman was captured smuggling 1.7 kilogrammes of cocaine valued between Ksh225 million and Ksh300 million (Rs 15 to 20 crores) at an Indian airport.
