Mumbai, July 6 (IANS) In a major operation against narcotics trafficking, the DRI seized 2.128 kg of cocaine, valued at Rs 10.65 crore in the illicit market, from female passenger arriving from Freetown via Nairobi at Mumbai airport, an official said on Monday.

Acting on specific intelligence, officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Mumbai Zonal Unit, intercepted the female passenger on her arrival on July 5 at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), the official said in a statement.

The passenger’s baggage, when put through an X-ray machine, revealed that something was concealed in the metallic handles of her trolley bags, said the statement.

Subsequently, the metallic handles were removed from the bags carried by the passenger and cut open, resulting in the recovery of 17 cylindrical packets. The packets were found to contain a white powdery substance, which, on testing with a field test kit, tested positive for cocaine, the DRI said.

A total of 2128 (net weight) grams of cocaine valued at Rs 10.65 crore in the illicit market was recovered from the passenger’s luggage, and she was arrested following interrogation, it said.

The recovered contraband was seized under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.

In a separate operation earlier, the DRI seized 2 kg of cocaine in Surat and arrested one person last month.

Besides this seizure, the DRI carried out a series of operations at various airports, railway stations, courier terminals, and highways in Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Patna, Cochin, and Ahmedabad, and has cumulatively seized approximately 26 kg of cocaine since last month, said the DRI.

During these operations, 22 persons, including 14 foreign nationals, were arrested, it said.

The contraband was trafficked through various modus operandi such as ingestion (swallowing drug-filled capsules or pellets for internal concealment within the body), concealment in household and edible items, soaking them in fabrics, concealment in baggage, etc.

–IANS

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