Officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested a woman recruited to smuggle drugs from Bengaluru to Doha with the contraband concealed inside sanitary pads. She was arrested along with three others who accompanied her at the Kempegowda International Airport's (KIA) premises and it led to the arrests of their two handlers, who ran a drug smuggling cartel based in Bengaluru.
Officials of the NCB, acting on a tip-off, were waiting at the departure drop-off area of KIA on Saturday morning and apprehended the woman and three others, of which one was a driver.
Officials identified the woman as the person who was scheduled to fly from Bengaluru to Doha on Saturday with a rucksack. They were caught in the car in the departure drop off area of KIA in possession of 510 grams of methamphetamine and 572 Lyrica (sedative) capsules concealed in 'Whisper' sanitary napkins.
"We received information that there is a middle-person and they have arranged a woman to carry drugs to Middle East countries. On Saturday morning, we found the two middlemen and the woman along with their driver in the KIA premises in possession of drugs", explains Bruno A, Zonal Director, NCB Chennai who led the operation to bust the racket.
NCB officials interrogated the duo apprehended at the airport asking them about their handler, the one who handed over the drugs to them to transport. Their investigation led them to an apartment at Lindon Street in Austin Town in Bengaluru.
The officials found 2.58 kg of hashish oil, 13.68 kg of hashish, 330 grams methamphetamine, 9.05 kg of marijuana and 4014 lyrics capsules in the house where Abu and Mohammed, the two handlers based their operations in Bengaluru. The duo hail from Kerala while others involved in the case are from New Delhi and Goa.
"A substantial quantity of drugs were being transported from Bengaluru to Middle East countries where they were being sold to a large diaspora of Indians," explained Bruno.
All six persons were produced before the 33rd Additional City, Civil and Sessions Court in Bengaluru and arrested on Monday. The driver was also working with the middlemen to transport drugs and was scheduled to leave for Doha by flight in the next few days.