KOCHI: An Additional Sessions Court in Kochi awarded 12 years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) to a Paraguayan who was accused of smuggling 3.6kg of cocaine, worth around 15 crore in the international market, via the Cochin International Airport in 2017. Alexis Regalado Fernandez was sentenced to imprisonment under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and also fined Rs 2 lakh.
Alexis was intercepted by a CISF officer at the airport’s domestic terminal when he came to board a flight to Bengaluru. Alexis, who was assigned to smuggle cocaine to Goa, had reached Kochi from Sao Paulo via Dubai.
During customary checking, CISF officer Srinivasa Rao G detected some padding on Alexis’ body. He was then taken for pat-down screening. While carrying out the pat-down search, it was noticed that he had concealed some white-coloured powder packed in plastic pouches designed like cricket pads and strapped on to his waist and shin below the knees. On inspecting the material with Explosives (and drug) Trace Detector (ETD), the test showed positive for cocaine.
Three other cases
After Alexis’ arrest, the Narcotic Control Bureau could intercept three other foreign nationals,
who were carriers of Sao Paulo-based drug cartel, at the Kochi airport with cocaine.