Ugandan passenger on Dubai flight caught with $1m of drugs at Delhi airport

Traveller swallowed 38 capsules containing heroin before India flight

The passenger was carrying 53 capsules containing heroin and had swallowed 38 more. Photo: Delhi customs

An airline passenger who swallowed 38 capsules of heroin before boarding a flight in Dubai to India has been arrested at Delhi’s international airport.

The Ugandan passenger was stopped at Indira Gandhi International Airport by customs officials on January 15 and admitted to hospital under supervision.

During an initial search of the passenger, immigration officers found 53 capsules packed with heroin. The passenger passed a further 38 capsules of the drug under medical supervision over several days.

The 91 capsules in total contained 998 grams of heroin, with an estimated street value of about $940,000 (Dh3.4 million).

Smugglers caught attempting to bring illegal drugs into India face a prison term of up to 20 years.

India is wedged between the world’s two largest areas of illicit opium production - the Golden Crescent countries of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, and the Golden Triangle of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.

Annual seizures of heroin have declined in recent years in India, as other smuggling routes have become more popular.

However, in September Indian anti-smuggling intelligence officials intercepted close to three tonnes of heroin worth $2.7bn in a major operation at a port in Gujarat state.

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