Major drug haul in Kerala airport; Rs 44 crore worth of narcotics seized

In a major drug haul, Rs 44 crore worth narcotics, including cocaine and heroin, were seized from a passenger at the international airport in Karipur here, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said on 29 August.

The Calicut Regional Unit, under the Cochin Zonal Unit of the DRI, seized 3.5 kilo gram of cocaine and 1.3 kg of heroin from Rajeev Kumar, a resident of Musafar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh.

The seized drugs were worth Rs 44 crore, DRI officials said.

The DRI sleuths successfully intercepted the passenger who had arrived from Nairobi in Kenya through Sharjah in an Air Arabia Flight and seized 4.8 kg of drugs from the said passenger at Calicut International Airport on 28 August, they said.

They said the passenger had ingeniously concealed the contraband inside items like shoes, hand purses, hand bags, picture boards and file folders in checked-in baggage.

The DRI officials added that the passenger has been arrested and further investigation is in progress.