New Delhi/Panaji: Around five kg of heroin, valued at Rs 36 crore in the international drug market, was recovered from the possession of a suspected smuggler at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, the customs officials at IGI told the media. The said passenger had concealed the smuggled heroin inside the cavities of a bag, a customs official said on Wednesday. The woman had flown from Malawi via Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to New Delhi on Saturday with the narcotic drugs.
The Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials arrested the woman at IGI Airport but did not allow the word to go out so as to not let the others involved in the operation know of the interception.
The DRI officials from Delhi and Bengaluru laid a trap in a Goa hotel to catch the others involved. A lady was supposed to travel from Hyderabad to Panaji in Goa and take the delivery of the smuggled banned drugs. Goan politicians had been calling for action to rein in the drug trade that was sullying the state’s name.
Apparently, the woman had no clue about the suspect arrested at IGI airport and therefore she flew in from Hyderabad to Panaji in Goa on Saturday to be able to receive the delivery of the heroin haul.
Unbeknownst to her, the person who had arrived at IGI had been arrested and during questioning revealed the plan and the pathway. DRI officials from New Delhi HQ and Bangalore Unit had swung into action and soon caught the Nigerian mastermind who was running this entire racket. The entire haul of 5.2 kg of heroin is valued at Rs 36 crores in the international market.
Goan daily OHeraldo had reported early in June that drug smugglers have been roping in innocent students in Goa with the lure of money and drugs to be a part of their drug trade nexus. A recent arrest of a Goan student involved in drug dealing in Delhi by the Narcotics Control Bureau had made it amply evident that the drug nexus has reached Goa.
Punishments for drug smuggling are harsh in many countries. Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a mentally challenged Indian-origin Malaysian man found guilty of drug trafficking, was executed in Singapore in April 2022. The 34-year-old was arrested in 2009 for trafficking 42.72 grams of heroin into Singapore, which has some of the world’s toughest drugs laws. A fast-track court handed out a death sentence to him the following year.
Last meal 😢😢
Singaporean death row inmate Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam eats his last meal before execution
He was a Malaysian who was convicted of trafficking 42.72 grams of heroin in April 2009 upon entering Singapore from Malaysia
Executed on 27 April 2022 at the age of 33 pic.twitter.com/tK7aUVPPD7— Devendra Kumar Saini (@dks6720) July 27, 2023
Under Singapore’s laws, those caught carrying more than 15 grams of heroin are subject to the death penalty, despite calls from international organisations like Amnesty Internation, etc against it.
The authorities in Singapore must stop carrying out unlawful executions in the name of drug-control. There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect on crime or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs. It's high time for abolition. pic.twitter.com/hv6jqUGHcC
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) July 28, 2023
Drug traders have now begun using modern technologies to further their nefarious business activities. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has a tough task carved out before them as the drugs are often tasteless, odourless, almost colourless, and need Forensic testing to confirm the type of drug. OHeraldo also stated that while the NCB is working at a national and international level, local Goan police must work to dig out the grassroots of the business in Goa so as to make the place safe for locals and tourists. In Delhi, the NCB has recently successfully busted one of the biggest Lysergic acid diethylamide – LSD rackets. Six people, including a Goan, have been arrested. Modern technology was seen here too being misused and deployed to carry out payments and deal with clients. The NCB found that the accused had been using modern techniques like cryptocurrency, the dark web, or Instagram for drug trafficking.
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