2 Brazilians arrested for smuggling Rs 20 crore worth cocaine at Delhi airport

NEW DELHI: Two Brazilians were arrested at the international airport here for smuggling into the country cocaine worth Rs 20 crore , the customs department said on Sunday. The accused, a male and a female from Brazil, were intercepted after their arrival from Sao Paulo via Paris on December 24.

"Upon enquiry, both the passengers admitted that they had ingested capsules/pellets containing some narcotic substances," the customs said in a statement.

During the initial proceedings at the airport, both the passengers eased out some capsules containing narcotic substance, it said.

The accused were taken to Safdarjung hospital here "for suitable action to be taken for extraction/excretion of said capsules," the statement said.

The entire medical extraction process lasted over several days and a total of 105 capsules were recovered from male passenger which in turn yielded 937 grams of cocaine, it said.

A total of 58 capsules, containing 562 grams of cocaine, were recovered from the woman passenger, the statement said.

The market value of the total of 1,399 grams of narcotic seized is estimated to be Rs 20.98 crore approximately, the customs said.