The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Heroin haul at airport; two held

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Saturday, Jul 05, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Heroin haul at airport; two held

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: Sleuths of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Bangalore, arrested two foreign nationals and recovered from them heroin valued at Rs. 9.57 crore from the Bangalore International Airport on Wednesday.

The alleged contraband carriers include a 23-year-old woman identified as Khaektet Thitaree of Thailand. The name of the other arrested person was given as Mwinshehe Shabani Selemani (36) of Tanzania.

They were taken into custody by the DRI while they were trying to smuggle out heroin.

Thitaree was intercepted while she was about to board a Malaysian Airlines flight at 50 minutes past midnight on Wednesday. She had checked in when the DRI sleuths caught her with two cabin bags.

On examination, it was found that her baggage had a false bottom which contained 2,080 grams of heroin. The contraband is estimated at Rs. 7 crore in the international market.

She travelled from New Delhi to Bangalore by a Jetlite flight on Tuesday and was taking the connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur.

On interrogation, she revealed that she was a student and had come to India for a short visit. She claimed that she carried the baggage containing the banned substance for a remuneration of U.S. $ 2,000 and a free flight ticket at the instance of some persons whom she met during her stay in Delhi.

Selemani, who had boarded the same flight as Ms. Thitaree, was de-planed by the DRI officials. He was carrying 65 capsules of heroin. He was subjected to medical examination and the capsules were recovered from his person. .

As much as 856 grams of heroin valued at Rs. 2.57 crore was recovered from the capsules. Selemani too had been commissioned by some persons in Delhi for U.S. $ 2,000.

The two were arrested under the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985 and were produced before a magistrate who remanded them to judicial custody.

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