Cochin, May 25 (IANS) Two Indians arriving from Bangkok were arrested at Cochin airport on Monday by the DRI with drugs worth Rs 20 lakh, an operation in which one of the accused stabbed himself during questioning in a bid to escape, an official said.

Officials posted at Cochin International Airport seized 3.5 kilograms of Methaqualone, a deadly narcotic substance, from the accused. The contraband is estimated to be worth more than Rs 20 lakh in India, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said.

The accused were identified as Satya Narayana Rokkalla and Arun Kumar Pandari, both residents of Andhra Pradesh, who arrived from Bangkok on a Thai Lion Air flight in the afternoon, the DRI said in a statement.

The DRI said while being taken to a room for questioning, Satya Narayana Rokkalla allegedly picked up a knife kept on the table and stabbed himself in the stomach.

He was later shifted to a private hospital in Angamaly. His injuries are not serious, the DRI said.

In a separate crackdown on narcotics trafficking earlier, the DRI, Mumbai Zonal Unit, arrested four foreigners and seized 2.25 kg of cocaine worth approximately Rs 11.25 crore in the illegal market in two separate operations conducted at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International (CSMI) Airport, Mumbai.

The accused were trying to smuggle drugs by concealing the contraband in their bodies, the DRI said.

According to officials, on May 22, acting on specific intelligence inputs, DRI officers intercepted one female and one male passenger who had arrived from Addis Ababa at Mumbai’s CSMI Airport. During sustained interrogation, both passengers admitted to having ingested capsules containing narcotic substances for smuggling purposes.

The passengers were subsequently admitted to a nearby government hospital, where officials recovered a total of 84 capsules containing 1.40 kg of cocaine. The seized cocaine is estimated to be worth nearly Rs 7 crore in the illicit market.

In another operation conducted earlier on May 19, DRI officers intercepted one African male passenger and one African female passenger upon their arrival from Addis Ababa at the Mumbai airport.

During questioning, both passengers confessed to swallowing capsules containing narcotic drugs. They were also admitted to a nearby government hospital, where authorities recovered a total of 63 capsules containing 850 grams of cocaine, valued at around Rs 4.25 crore in the illegal market.

–IANS

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