Mumbai: DRI arrests Senegal national Thomas Mendy at CSMI Airport with 2.6 kg cocaine worth Rs 26.62 crore | Representative Image
Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials have arrested a Senegal national who had arrived from Nairobi for allegedly smuggling cocaine worth Rs 26.62 crore. The syndicate had promised 3000 USD to the accused for successful delivery of the contraband.
The arrested accused has been identified as Thomas Mendy alias Joseph Iwuchukwu Okechukwu (40), currently residing in Lagos, Nigeria.
According to the DRI sources, Intelligence was gathered by DRI, Mumbai which indicated that one male passenger namely Thomas Mendy, a Senegal national would be arriving at CSMI Airport, Mumbai on Kenyan Airlines from Nairobi, Kenya on Friday and he might be carrying some narcotic substance concealed in his luggage.
Acting on the said intelligence, the DRI officers intercepted Thomas Mendy on his arrival. During the search of his handbag the officers observed that the handbag was unusually heavier and rigid even after his personal belongings from the handbag were already removed.
The officers then cut opened handbag and recovered two packets concealed between the outer and inner layer of handbag on each side containing white powdery substance. The tests conducted on the recovered substance, tested positive for presence of Cocaine a narcotic drug in each of the two packets. The officials recovered cocaine weighing 2662 grams valued at Rs 26.62 crore.
“During his questioning Mendy revealed that the said handbag was handed over to him by one person of African ethnicity at a hotel in Sierra Leone, and he was aware that around 2.6 kgs of Cocaine was ingeniously concealed in his said handbag. During this drug smuggling trip, he was in touch with other drug syndicate members on whose instruction he carried the drug in India. He was to be given 3000 USD in Mumbai for the successful delivery of the drugs to the receiver. Since he was in need of money for business purpose, he accepted the offer to earn some quick easy money,” said an agency source.
“Mendy also revealed that he had smuggled drugs into India on previous occasions and he used to secure his entry into India using fake passports. He was aware that smuggling of Cocaine and other illegal drugs into India attracts stringent punishment as per laws prevalent in India,” the official said.
