The airport customs officers have arrested a man named Simon Alfred Ngong, hailing from the Republic of Cameroon, a country in Central Africa. As per the reports, Simon has been arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport for smuggling 73 capsules laced with cocaine powder. Reportedly, Simon got off from Ethiopian Airlines flight ET-686, when he got off at the IGI airport. After the flight had landed at the airport, the customs officers became alert and started closely observing all the passengers from Addis Ababa – the capital of Ethiopia. While inspecting the passengers, the officers felt something suspicious about one of the commuters. He was extremely scared and drenched in sweat. After seeing his terrified condition, the customs officers contemplated that something was wrong with this passenger. However, they waited for him to pass the green channel.
After he had cleared the green channel, the officers confronted him and asked if there was anything he would like to declare something. The passenger broke down and voluntarily accepted that he had consumed banned drugs. Post this confession, the accused, Simon was admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi.
As per the reports, this powder weighs about 1096 grams. A senior customs official has revealed these details to the media. As per the official, these capsules were recovered from Simon’s stomach after a 7-day-long investigation at the Safdarjung Hospital. The senior customs official also added that the cocaine powdered tablet’s value recovered from the possession of an African citizen is estimated at Rs 10.90 crore. According to the reports, Simon has been arrested under Section 43(A) of the NDPS Act, 1985. As of now, the investigation of this case is still underway.
Under section 43 (A), any officer of any of the departments mentioned in section 42 may seize in any public place or transit, any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance or controlled substance in respect of which he has reason to believe an offence punishable under this Act has been committed.
Under section 43 (B), the officer can detain and search any person whom he has reason to believe to have committed an offence punishable under this Act.
