Date:26/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/26/stories/2008092655750600.htm

Karnataka

Heroin worth Rs. 14 crore seized; Vietnamese held

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Officials of the Preventive Unit of the Department of Customs (Central) nabbed a Vietnamese national at the Bangalore International Airport in the early hours of Thursday and seized heroin worth Rs. 14.28 crore from her.

Twenty-four-year-old Nguyen Thi Trang claimed to be a student. She was arrested while boarding a Hanoi-bound flight around 12.30 a.m.

“The accused had concealed 4.28 kg of heroin in specially made cavities in her sandals and the false bottom of a suitcase,” A.K. Koushal, Commissioner of Customs, told The Hindu.

“The accused flew from New Delhi to Bangalore by a Jetlite flight on Wednesday night. We had information on her and were waiting. She was taken into custody as she was getting ready to take the connecting flight to Hanoi,” said Bijoy Kumar Khar, Additional Commissioner of Customs.

The Customs officials said that the examination of her baggage and two pairs of sandals had led to the seizure of a huge quantity of heroin.

During interrogation, the accused had said she was a student and had come to India on a short visit. A Nigerian national had met her in New Delhi and assigned her the job of transporting the consignment to Hanoi via Bangkok. She was paid $1,500 and provided a free flight ticket for the job. Since security was strict at the Mumbai International Airport, drug peddlers were using New Delhi and Bangalore airports, he said.