Filipina gets 20-yr RI for smuggling heroin

Ahmedabad: A special court here on Friday convicted a 41-year-old woman from the Philippines for smuggling 2.1kg of heroin in India at the behest of an international drug syndicate, and sentenced her to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment. The court also fined her Rs 4 lakh. According to the case details, Ginalean Padiwan Limon, a resident of Ilocos Sur in the Philippines, was intercepted at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in coordination with the Bureau of Immigration in June 2024. A lookout notice had been issued against her. The NCB sleuths arrested Limon finding 2.1kg of heroin on her. During investigation, she confessed to her involvement in smuggling drugs into India. The investigation revealed her role as a carrier for an overseas syndicate. This was her third visit to India. She was put on trial on charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS). After the trial, special judge V B Rajput found Limon guilty of drug trafficking and of having heroin in her possession in commercial quantity. While awarding her a 20-year imprisonment, the judge said, "At present, drug trafficking is a very serious and challenging issue. Many families become financially and economically devastated due to people who run drug trafficking rackets. Adolescents attending schools and colleges ruin their youth due to the habit of drug abuse. Consequently, the nation's youth are being destroyed. Moreover, the entire society is harmed by its side effects. In murder cases, one or two individuals may be killed by an accused, but in narcotics cases, countless innocent young people, who are very valuable to the nation, reach death due to the consumption of and addiction to drugs. They are not only affected, but the impact extends to their entire families. Therefore, it seems necessary to send a message to these international drug mafias to curb drug trafficking." Get real-time updates and result insights on the CBSE 12 Result 2026.