Bengaluru, Mar 24: In one of the biggest drugs haul at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) here in recent times, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) nabbed two men who tried to smuggle out over Rs 55 lakh worth contraband, including cocaine, hashish and amphetamine, from Bengaluru to Doha. They had concealed the substances inside lunchboxes and a quilt.
Sources with the NCB’s Bengaluru zonal unit identified the smugglers as Noushad Mannakkamvalli, 24, from Malappuram, Kerala and Muhammed Nousheer, 29, from Kodagu, who were booked on an Friday evening Oman Air flight to Doha, Qatar. “Following information about large quantities of contraband being smuggled, we deployed our team in the departure area,” said a senior NCB official.
The team checked passengers, especially those taking flights to Doha and Dubai. “The duo had entered the security check area when our team intercepted them. Their answers were inconclusive and raised more suspicion. Their check-in bags were recalled for an inspection,” he added.
Drugs in quilt, lunch box
NCB sleuths found a quilt which appeared to have been stitched up. They cut it open to find 4.5kg of hashish worth nearly Rs 50 lakh packed inside. They also found two lunchboxes containing 955gm of amphetamine worth Rs 4 lakh and 30gm cocaine worth over Rs 1.5 lakh.
The duo, suspected to be regular gold smugglers from the Gulf, are believed to be active in drug smuggling from Bengaluru to Doha and other parts of the Gulf. A probe is on to check the source of drugs and if a bigger racket based in Bengaluru is involved in the smuggling from Bengaluru to Doha.
NCB arrested the men on Friday and the contraband and items used to smuggle them were seized. The duo were booked under the NDPS Act and sent to prison on Saturday afternoon.
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