Delhi Customs Seize 5.85 kg Cocaine, The Biggest at Any Airport in India

On the night of April 6, 2022, at the IGI International Airport, Delhi Airport Customs confiscated 5.85 kg of cocaine, the most amount ever captured at any Indian airport. The seizure by Delhi Customs yesterday night exemplifies the Indian Customs’ struggle against the narcotics threat.

The continuous supply of drugs from source countries has made medication availability simple. IGI Airport, the country’s principal capital airport, handles tens of thousands of travellers each year, some of them are active drug traffickers. IGI Airport Customs is conducting a tenacious battle against such carriers and their handlers.

Customs at the IGI Airport alone has booked 16 cases under the NDPS Act in the last six months, the most of any airport in the country. Almost 33.70 kg of Heroin and 12.60 kg of Cocaine were seized from international travellers, the majority of which were of African nationalities. Customs has booked 35 cases at IGI Airport for the full financial year 2021-22, with a street value of drugs estimated at Rs. 887.35 crore. In the process, 34 passengers were also detained.

In these seizures, two unique modes of operation have been recognised. Some travellers conceal the medications in rubber capsules, which they subsequently consume to avoid being stopped by Customs agents at the airport. They then eject these capsules after taking laxatives, putting their own lives in jeopardy. This method of operation is not only difficult to detect, but also to recover from. The suspected passengers must be admitted to government hospitals, where medical supervision would be provided during the extraction. This procedure usually takes 4 to 5 days, but it might take up to a week. Needless to say, these travellers are carefully monitored and guarded by Customs agents, who are putting their own lives in danger owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The interception of illicit drugs at the airport is only the start of a lengthy and difficult legal struggle that will follow.

The drug is disguised in specially constructed cavities in the hand-baggage or checked-in baggage carried by the travellers on the second approach. The Customs Canine Squad and High-resolution X-ray are used in tandem to detect such occurrences. Both of these methods have been discovered at IGI Airport. The burgeoning market and lucrative nature of the business have assured that the flow of drugs attempting to be smuggled into India through airports continues unabated.