HYDERABAD: In yet another major drug bust in the city, Customs officials seized a huge quantity of heroin worth Rs 54 crore from a South African woman at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on Friday. The woman had concealed the drug in powder form in handbags and file folders.
This is the second major heroin seizure by the Customs at the RGI airport recently.
On April 26, a Tanzanian national who ingested heroin in capsule form was nabbed and 108 capsules of the drug weighing 1389.10 grams and worth Rs 11.53 crore was recovered from him.
Based on passenger profiling, officers of the Air Intelligence Unit identified and intercepted the South African woman, aged around 26, who arrived from Johannesburg via Doha by a Qatar Airways flight.
On physical examination of her checked baggage, five ladies’ handbags and two file folders were found inside. On reasonable doubt that narcotic goods could be concealed inside, the handbags and file folders were cut open.
Fourteen black colored plastic packets were found concealed inside the side layers of the ladies’ handbags and the file folders. The packets were further found to contain some brownish white powder, which was tested with the narcotic drug detection kit and revealed to be heroin.
The smuggled heroin weighing 6.75 kg and valued at around Rs 54 crores in the international grey market was seized and the passenger was also detained for further investigation.