Bengaluru– In a major drug bust, officers from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Bengaluru Zonal Unit, seized over 4 kg of cocaine worth ₹40 crore from an Indian male passenger who arrived from Doha in the early hours of Friday.
Acting on specific intelligence, DRI officials intercepted the man at Bengaluru International Airport and examined his baggage. They found two superhero comic books, unusually heavy, which on inspection revealed white powder concealed within their covers. The substance later tested positive for cocaine.
The 4,006 grams of cocaine were seized under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and the accused was arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
Recent Smuggling Cases in Bengaluru
This follows a similar case in March 2025, when DRI intercepted a 33-year-old Indian woman arriving from Dubai with 14.2 kg of foreign-origin gold valued at ₹12.56 crore, hidden on her person. A follow-up raid at her Lavelle Road residence led to the seizure of:
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Gold jewellery worth ₹2.06 crore
Indian currency worth ₹2.67 crore
Crackdown on Smuggling
These back-to-back seizures reflect the heightened vigilance at Bengaluru Airport and the strategic efforts by DRI to disrupt high-value smuggling networks, involving both narcotics and precious metals.