Rs 35 crore cocaine seizure; speculation swirls around arrested man's Bollywood links
The seizure was made on Sunday night after an Air India passenger flight from Singapore landed in Chennai;
Parking lot in Chennai International Airport
CHENNAI: In a major drug bust at Chennai International Airport, officials from the Customs Department and the DRI have arrested a 35-year-old man from Assam for allegedly smuggling 3.5 kilograms of cocaine, valued at approximately Rs. 35 crore, from Singapore.
The seizure was made on Sunday night after an Air India passenger flight from Singapore landed in Chennai. Acting on a specific intelligence tip about a passenger carrying a large quantity of narcotics, officials monitored the arrivals and identified a suspect based on his behaviour.
The passenger, who had travelled to Cambodia as a tourist and was returning to Chennai via Singapore, was intercepted and questioned. Upon intense interrogation and a thorough examination of his luggage at the airport customs office, officials discovered the cocaine, cleverly concealed within his belongings.
Following the seizure, the accused was formally arrested and taken to the DRI office in T. Nagar, Chennai, for further investigation. Preliminary inquiries suggest the man was working for an international drug smuggling syndicate. Information extracted during questioning has also revealed the involvement of two other individuals from Delhi and Mumbai connected to the racket. Authorities in those cities have been alerted and efforts are underway to apprehend them.
Meanwhile, a wave of speculation has emerged on a section of media, identifying the arrested individual as a minor Bollywood actor from Assam. Reports are circulating with his name and that he had a role in the Hindi film "Student of the Year 2".
However, when contacted, officials from both the Chennai Airport Customs and the DRI declined to confirm these claims. A senior official stated, "We have arrested a man who was smuggling cocaine worth about ₹35 crore from Cambodia via Singapore. We are searching for two more associates in the north. We have no information about him being a film actor. It is not customary for us to disclose the names of those arrested by customs, and we cannot officially reveal the arrested individual's name at this time."
The investigation is ongoing as authorities work to unravel the international drug network behind this smuggling attempt.