By P. Vijian, NNN-Bernama,
Chennai : An Indian businesswoman who tried to outwit Customs officials by trying to smuggle 18 kg of ketamine to Malaysia by concealing them inside a kitchen grinder has been nabbed at the Tiruchi Airport in this capital of southern Tamil Nadu state.
Air Customs at the airport detained the 45-year-old suspect from the Virudhunagar district in Tiruchi when she was preparing to board a flight to Malaysia on Saturday.
The contraband, worth nearly 400,000 Ringgit (about 113,000 USD), was found when Customs officials were scanning her luggage.
“We seized the drugs when we were scanning her luggage. We found the ketamine inside the grinder. The suspect admitted that a man gave the item to her to deliver in Kuala Lumpur,” T. Sivasankaran, Joint Commissioner of Air Customs of Tiruchi Airport, told Bernama.
According to investigation reports, several parts of the grinder were removed to make space for the ketamine that was neatly wrapped in plastic sheet.
However, the woman denied she was carrying drugs in her luggage and claimed that a male friend had requested her to send the grinder as a wedding gift to a relative in Kuala Lumpur.
The man, believed to be involved in a drug smuggling syndicate in Chennai, had also promised her 360 (about 100 USD) if she delivered the grinder, the suspect told Customs officials.
The woman is being held under police custody for further investigations.