Cocaine and heroin concealed in kurta buttons worth ₹47 crore seized at Mumbai airport

Mumbai: Two persons were arrested at Mumbai international airport on Friday allegedly with heroin and cocaine worth ₹47 crore, an official said. The operation by the Mumbai Airport Customs Zonal Unit III netted 4.47 kilograms of heroin valued at ₹31.29 crore and 1.596 kilograms of cocaine worth ₹15.96 crore, he said.

"They were held in separate cases. In the first case, a man was held with 4.47 kilogram of heroin after he landed here on Kenya Airways flight KQ210 from Johannesburg in South Africa via Nairobi in Kenya. He had concealed the contraband in 12 document folders," he



said.

"In the second case, a man who arrived on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET-460 was held after a scan of his baggage revealed suspicious buttons. These buttons were excessive in number and placed unusually close to each other on clothes," he said.

A detailed search of the bag led to the discovery of 1.596 kilograms of cocaine concealed in buttons of kurtas and in false cavities inside women's handbags, the official said. The two were charged under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and have been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days, he informed.