Woman Swallowed 91 Cocaine Pellets; Arrested At Airport

A 28-year-old woman has ended up behind bars after trying to smuggle in one kilogram of cocaine into India by swallowing it in form of pellets. The passenger, who arrived in the country from Uganda, is suspected to be an AIDS patient.

Police said the contraband, seized at the international airport in New Delhi last Saturday, is worth $18,80,154, reports NDTV. The woman was arrested by customs officers at the airport Wednesday.

She came under the radar of customs officials after they noticed her "unusual body movements." Officials approached her out of "sheer facilitation and goodwill" to offer help, the report said.

"However, the passenger not only refused to accept any help but also showed a disinclination to engage in any conversation, while at the same time continuing to exhibit uneasy body movements," said a statement issued by the customs department.

Though they let her leave, customs officials kept an eye on her. As she crossed the green channel toward the exit gate, officials intercepted her for further questioning. "Upon questioning, the passenger finally divulged that she had swallowed 91 capsules of the narcotic substance," according to the statement.

The statement added that she was immediately taken to Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital. "X-ray scanning revealed that the sigmoid colon (ascending, descending) of the passenger was filled with oval pellets. Under expert medical supervision, an ejection procedure was carried out, which yielded the recovery of a total of 91 pellets in batches," the customs department said.

The entire process took at least four days, while she remained under tight vigil. The officials ensured that the woman could not contact anyone from outside.

Further examination of the pellets revealed a "white powdery substance weighing 992 grams." A diagnostic test revealed the substance to be cocaine.

The hospital authorities later handed over the woman to customs officials, who put her under arrest. The NDTV report cited sources as saying that the woman is suspected to be suffering from AIDS. Officials said the woman might have been forced into smuggling the narcotics in exchange for money to help her with her medical condition.

She has been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, and the investigating officers are probing her contacts.

This year alone, as many as 32 passengers were arrested in the Delhi airport while trying to smuggle drugs. The estimated value of the drugs seized in these cases was more than $11,36,08,898, the NDTV report said.