Two South East Asian women carrying 6kg of cocaine worth over Rs3 crore in the Indian market were detained on Wednesday at the Mumbai airport. They had arrived from South Africa on an Ethiopian Airways flight and were headed to Singapore.
Vietnamese Ly Leogse, a 64-year-old professor of English and French, and Indonesian businesswoman Adma Siregar, 45, were apprehended by the air intelligence unit (AIU) of Mumbai Customs after a tip-off.
“We have rarely come across South East Asian carriers at Mumbai airport. We have detained them. They will be arrested by Thursday,” said a senior customs official.
Experts say this detention has revealed that drug smugglers may have changed their modus operandi to avoid detection. Instead of using regular carriers from countries like Nigeria, Israel and Russia, who are usually on the radar of customs officials, smugglers are opting for South East Asian carriers from respectable backgrounds so that they don’t raise suspicion.
The AIU had received a tip-off about Siregar. A team headed by assistant commissioner of police Sameer Wankhede took her aside on arrival and discovered 4kg of cocaine concealed in a secret compartment in her bag. Officials were then told of her accomplice, Leogse, from whom the remaining 2kg cocaine was seized.
Siregar, a spinster, told officials that she runs a jewellery business and her boyfriend gave her the bag to carry. “Leogse has a family in Vietnam and earns enough as a professor. There doesn’t seem to be any rational reason for her to get involved in drug smuggling. It seems she agreed to this because of the lure of quick and extra cash,” said an official. The two were promised $1,000-2,000 each for the delivery.
Officials found that both women have visited Mumbai on previous occasions. Further investigations are on.
