Two foreign nationals caught with cocaine worth ₹33 crore
New Delhi: Customs officials of Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, Terminal-3, have arrested two foreign nationals attempting to smuggle huge quantities of cocaine into India. The cumulative value of the drugs seized is pegged at Rs 33 crore, the officials informed on Monday.
On December 7, 2024, customs officials at IGI Airport apprehended Hendric Jacobus Roestorff, a South African national, in connection with a cocaine smuggling case. Arriving on Flight ET-688 from Addis Ababa, he had cleared the Green Channel before being detained for questioning. Roestorff confessed to swallowing capsules containing narcotic drugs and was sent to Safdarjung Hospital for medical procedures. Over several days, 67 capsules containing 799 grams of cocaine (841 grams gross weight), valued at approximately Rs 12 crore, were recovered from his body. On December 11, 2024, customs officials detained Lucas Henrique De Oliveira Brito, a Brazilian national, who had arrived from Guarulhos, Brazil, on Flight AF-214 from Paris.
The unusual behaviour of Brito during arrival raised suspicion, and he was intercepted after crossing the Green Channel. Upon questioning, Brito confessed to swallowing capsules containing narcotics. In the hospital at Safdarjung, the medical procedures led to the extraction of 127 capsules over several days that contained 1,383 grams of cocaine (1,463 grams gross weight) with an estimated street value of Rs 21 crore. In both cases, the narcotics were confiscated under Section 43(a) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. Both were arrested on December 21, under Section 43(b) for contravention of the provisions of the NDPS Act. Further investigations are underway.
