Another Kenyan woman has been arrested at an airport in India with cocaine pellets in her stomach. The Kenyan woman who was identified as Florence Indangasi was arrested at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai after arriving on a flight from Nairobi, Kenya.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) stopped the 43-year old for interrogation after what was termed as an intelligence tip off. However, nothing was found in her luggage and clothes after a search was conducted.
According to the DRI officials, Indangasi admitted that even though nothing had been found in her bags and clothes, she had ingested cocaine pellets. The officials asked for a court approval from the Esplanade court and she was admitted at the JJ Hospital in Mumbai for examination.
A total of six pellets containing cocaine were then recovered from her stomach. Laboratory tests and measurements showed that she had carried pellets containing 665.5 grams of cocaine.
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The police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against her under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and she was placed under arrest. Preliminary investigations suggested that Indangasi was part of a drug trafficking cartel that has been operating from Kenya.
“It appears she was a part of a wider drug smuggling racket operating from Kenya,” an official with the DRI stated.
Indangasi adds to the growing list of Kenyan women who are getting arrested at international airports with ingested drugs or packages of drugs hidden in their luggage.
Incidentally, a majority of the women in the drug trafficking ring are being caught in India, raising concerns that the Mumbai airport has become a target entry point for drugs from Kenya. With the rising cases, questions have also come up on where these Kenyan women are accessing the drugs from, who is sending them to India, and how they are able to bypass security checks at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
