India-Qatar drug smuggling ring busted; woman arrested at Bengaluru airport
The kingpins of an India-Qatar drug smuggling racket were arrested on Monday (June 17). The arrest took place after Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) caught a woman with drugs in her possession at Kempegowda International Airport.
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FollowBengaluru: A woman smuggling drugs from Bengaluru to Doha was arrested at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) parking lot on Saturday (June 15) after she was caught with contraband concealed in sanitary napkins. She was scheduled to fly from Bengaluru to Qatar capital Doha the same day.
She was accompanied by three others whose interrogation led the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) sleuths to two kingpins of the drug smuggling cartel.
Two among the three people who accompanied her, Abu and Mohammad, are in their mid-20s and hail from Kerala. They had been running the India-Qatar drug smuggling racket. Reports stated that drugs including hashish and methamphetamine were recovered from their hideout in Bengaluru’s Austin Town. The total value of the seizure is Rs 3 crore.
Reports also said that a team led by Bruno A, the zonal director of NCB’s Bengaluru unit, received specific information regarding a city-based drug cartel.
According to the information, they were looking to recruit drug carriers who can smuggle drugs from Bengaluru to Doha, reports said. The investigation began a few weeks ago, but it was on Saturday that the NCB sleuths found the four-member gang in a Karnataka-registered car in KIA parking lot.
Reports stated that the woman who got arrested had 510 gm of methamphetamine and 572 Lyrica (a sedative) capsules in her possession. The woman was identified as a mule by the NCB agents and she was promised a good remuneration for smuggling drugs along with free travel.
The investigators were led to a house on Linden Street in Austin Town by the trio who accompanied the woman. The kingpins were picked up from the house.
The men had rented the house four months ago and the NCB agents found 2.8 kg of hashish oil, 13.6 kg of hard hashish, 330 gm of methamphetamine and 9 kg of marijuana. The hashish and methamphetamine has an estimated worth of Rs 20 lakh in the international market.
Six people were arrested on Monday (June 17) and they were remanded in judicial custody. Further investigation is underway.
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