The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence’s Mumbai Zonal Unit has busted a cocaine trafficking attempt at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai, arresting a female Zambian national. The interception was made on the basis of specific intelligence, according to the report, underlining the DRI’s intelligence-led approach to checking narcotics smuggling through the country’s airports.
Intelligence-Led Interception
The woman had arrived from Freetown, Sierra Leone, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, when DRI officers intercepted her at the airport. Acting on intelligence inputs, officials subjected her to a medical examination, which led to the expulsion of 11 capsules containing 190 grams of cocaine in gross weight. The seized contraband is valued at approximately Rs 1 crore, according to the report. The case follows similar intelligence-driven anti-narcotics operations elsewhere in the country, where agencies have been steadily tightening the net around trafficking routes.
Arrest Under the NDPS Act
The accused has been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, the central law governing narcotics offences in the country. The case will now proceed under the Act’s provisions. Body-concealment — swallowing capsules to evade detection — is a method enforcement agencies routinely watch for at international airports, and supervised medical examinations are the standard procedure for confirming such concealment.
DRI Steps Up Airport Surveillance
The DRI, India’s apex anti-smuggling intelligence agency, has stepped up surveillance at major airports as traffickers adapt their routes and methods. Officials credit sustained intelligence work for busts of this kind — the same kind of enforcement work that has earned officers the state’s highest honours. The recovery of 190 grams of cocaine valued at approximately Rs 1 crore marks a significant interception for the Mumbai Zonal Unit, and a reminder that the fight against narcotics trafficking is fought one interception at a time.
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