Upon the train's arrival at Platform No 7 of Panvel Railway Station, officials conducted a search and questioned a Nigerian woman about the possession of narcotics, during which she allegedly confessed to the crime
The woman was asked to alight at Panvel, where authorities recovered the contraband after searching her belongings.
In a major crackdown against drug trafficking, the Central Railway’s Railway Protection Force (RPF) jointly carried out an operation with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Crime Intelligence Branch (CIB) Mumbai, and seized narcotics worth Rs 36 crore onboard the Hazrat Nizamuddin-Ernakulam Mangala Express at Panvel, Navi Mummbi, on Thursday. The authorities also arrested a foreign national who was in the possession of the contraband.
Based on information received by NCB Bangalore regarding narcotics smuggling on the train, a joint team was formed comprising RPF (Panvel) personnel Anjani Babar and Prahlad Singh, NCB officers Murari Lal and Madhusudhan Vishwakarma, CIB officers Satish Kumar Yadav and Naveen Singh, along with Prahlad Patil, Jyoti Kushwah and Dhirendra Yadav.
The officials conducted a search operation of the train upon its arrival at Platform No 7 of Panvel Railway Station. During the search, they questioned a Nigerian woman, identified as Etumudon Doris, over the possession of narcotics, and she allegedly confessed to the crime. Doris, who was accompanied by an infant, was brought to RPF Post Panvel, and her belongings were thoroughly searched. Inside a multicolour travel bag, officials reportedly discovered two rectangular black packages wrapped in rubber material. Upon testing using a drug detection kit, the contents tested positive for cocaine.
The authorities seized 2.002 kg of cocaine from her.
She also carried a red-and-blue Mickey Mouse-themed children’s bag which allegedly contained two paper packages—one labeled corn flakes and the other a roll.
The packets were found to contain white crystalline substances identified as Methamphetamine weighing 1.488 kg.
The seized narcotics, with a combined estimated market value of approximately Rs 36 crore, were taken into custody by Murari Lal, Jr Intelligence Officer, NCB (Bangalore).
Further legal proceedings are underway.
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