KOCHI: A Venezuelan national who was arrested with cocaine worth Rs 5 crore from the Kochi airport in September 2018 was on Monday absolved of the charges, in yet another setback to the Narcotics Control Bureau.
Acquitting Victor David Romero Infante, the Ernakulam Additional District and Sessions court said the prosecution has not succeeded in proving beyond reasonable doubt that the accused was found in possession of cocaine or that he smuggled the same to India as alleged.
Judge Sulekha M also pointed out that the investigation conducted by NCB against the Venezuelan was not as per the guidelines set in the NDPS Act. During the trial, the defence counsels raised procedural lapses by NCB in sending the seized cocaine to a chemical laboratory for verification.
This is the third time in recent years that foreign nationals arrested by NCB have been acquitted by the court.