Delhi zonal unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau arrested a 25-year-old Bolivian woman along with two Nigerians for smuggling 2.5 kg cocaine worth Rs25 crores in the international market.
A senior police official said that the woman, who was carrying the drugs in her bag had kept it concealed in two to three layers of black polythene which was kept in the bag. “By stuffing it within two layers of polythene, the drugs were not detected in the X-ray machines,” added the official.
Sleuths of the NCB had received information that a foreigner will be smuggling drugs through the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Based on the specific input that the woman will be heading to a hotel in Gurugram, the sleuths trailed the movement of 25-year-old Maria laura B Zabala to a hotel in Paharganj where she along with two Nigerians Michael Onyebuchi (33) and Michael Azubuike (40) were allegedly caught receiving the drug consignment from Zabala.
A team led by Madho Singh, Zonal Director busted the gang of traffickers.
“The men told us that they were asked by a Nigerian man based in Bolivia to pick up the consignment and hand it over to someone later,” said a senior NCB official. “The three people, including the woman, have been arrested under sections of the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act). Three packets of cocaine weighing 2.5 kgs have also been seized during the operation,” the official said.
He added that the estimated value of the cocaine is about Rs25 crore. The official said the woman told them she was allegedly supposed to get USD 3,000 (about Rs1.9 lakh) for doing the courier job.
The two Nigerians were staying in the country using a forged passport and visa, the official claimed, adding the probe against them and in the alleged drug racket is ongoing.