Woman from Mozambique Held at Delhi Airport With over 10 kg Heroin Worth Rs 45 Crore Hidden in Pipes

New Delhi: A Mozambican woman has been arrested at Delhi airport for allegedly carrying more than 10 kilograms of heroin worth approximately Rs 45 crore concealed in pipes, a customs official said on Wednesday.

The foreigner, who arrived at the Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Tuesday, was intercepted by officers of the Air Intelligence Unit and Air Customs Preventive, according to the Office of the Commissioner of Customs, IGI Airport.

During a search of her baggage, two-wire/pipe rolls made of plastic were discovered, it said in a statement.

"After removing the rolled lengths of pipe, the axes of the wire/pipe rolls were found to be covered with layers of a powdery substance ingeniously concealed in thin black plastic sheets," it said.

A total of 10.69 kgs of the substance was seized and the initial testing confirmed that to be heroin an opioid and a highly addictive narcotic substance most commonly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects, it said.

The Mozambican national was arrested under the relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

The estimated market value of the seized substance can range up to Rs 45 crore, depending on its purity, the statement said.

In August last year, Customs officials arrested three foreigners - one each of Kenyan, Bolivian and Brazilian nationality in two separate cases for attempting to smuggle cocaine ingested by them in the form of capsules.

A total of 2.352 kgs of cocaine worth approximately 13.50 crore was seized from their possession, the statement added.