BENGALURU: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Bengaluru on August 19 arrested a Paraguayan and seized contraband cocaine worth Rs 20 crore from him soon after he landed at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) from Brazil.
“We arrested Ismail, a Paraguay national at the KIA and seized 3.347 kg of contraband cocaine from his possession worth over Rs 20 crore in the international grey market. Ismail was instructed in by his handler in Brazil to deliver cocaine to someone in Bengaluru," said an NCB officer.
Ismail, who was travelling from Brazil to Bengaluru via Dubai on an Emirates flight was arrested under Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 and later produced before the designated court on August 20. He has been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days and is lodged in Central Prison at Parapanna Agrahara. This is the second seizure of cocaine at KIA and the 14th seizure of contraband narcotic drugs in the City this year by the NCB, Bengaluru.
In June the NCB had arrested a middle aged Filipino man - Garcia soon after he landed at the KIA from Abu Dhabi and had seized around 54 grams of cocaine worth over Rs 50 lakh from him. Garcia had concealed the high priced contraband in his shoes and was caught, when he was surreptitiously trying to take it out and put it in his bag. He had reportedly told the NCB officers that he was carrying the contraband drug from Brazil, where someone had asked him to deliver it a Filipino lady at a hotel in Bengaluru.
The drug peddlers contact their clients through social media networks and use 'mules' or 'couriers' to deliver the contraband to their customers through a highly clandestine network. Since it is a high priced narcotic drug the coke network includes high profile businessmen and highly paid professionals from entertainment and IT industry.
