Liquid cocaine: How it is smuggled into India?

Bengaluru, July 14: Investigations being conducted into the huge drug bust in Bangladesh has revealed many more details. The Bangladesh police busted a major consignment of cocaine amounting to 15 million US dollars which was to land in India and then be circulated into the Euopean markets.

The details that have trickled in from this investigation would suggest that it was a Latin American gang which was sourcing the drugs and then trying to smuggle it out of the Chittagong port. The consignment was meant to land in Chittagong before making its way into an Indian port after which it would have been pumped into the world markets.

However, what is interesting in this particular case is that the modus operandi involved in smuggling liquid cocaine. The modus operandi involved mixing the cocaine in sunflower oil and then moving it around the world.

Smuggling cocaine in liquid form:

It was only in the month of May 2015 that the police and security agencies realized the exact manner in which the cocaine was being smuggled in large numbers. It was found that the cocaine was being transported in blue plastic barrels containing sunflower oil. [Cocaine consignment worth $15 million headed to India?]

When the Bangladesh police carried out a seizure in May 2015, it had been found that there were 107 barrels of sunflower oil which was carrying cocaine. This bust alone led to the police seizing 100 kilograms of cocaine that had been mixed in the sunflower oil.

The May 2015 bust revealed that the consignment was being shipped from Uruguay to Singapore. The drugs were then moved from the ship to a smaller ship. This ship landed at the Chittagong port from where it was meant to be smuggled to several other countries.

Other instances of liquid cocaine smuggling:

An incident that occurred last month also revealed how liquid cocaine was being smuggled. A 22 year old Honduran was arrested while she was trying to board a flight to Barcelona.

The arrested lady, Paola Sabillon was found to be carrying cocaine stuffed in two tied up latex gloves. The gloves were implanted into her breasts at a clinic, investigations had found. When an X-Ray was conducted it was found that she had 1.5 lakh pounds worth of cocaine in the latex gloves which were implanted into her breasts.

In the year 2013, Tabitha, a Canadian woman was arrested while she was trying to smuggle 2 kilograms of cocaine. She had placed the cocain in a fake pregnancy suit. When she was being scanned at the airport, her behaviour was found to be strange and this led to her arrest.

The Latin American mafia:

The Latin American mafia has been one of the most notorious when it comes to drug trade. Investigations have revealed that they have created new routes where the drugs are brought in from Pakistan and Afghanistan to Bangladesh. They then find South Asian ports where the drug consignments are meant to reach.

From here, the drugs are moved to Asia, United States of America and Europe. Investigations have also shown that India has a major market for such drugs. The demand for cocaine has been on the rise and is gradually overshooting the popularity of heroin among the addicts. The Latin American mafia have several pick up points in India.

The major pick up points in India are in Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. Drugs are also supplied from here to Goa, Himachal Pradesh and parts of Karnataka. In these areas, it has also been found that the consumption of drugs is relatively high.

OneIndia News