Nedumbassery (Kochi): Officials at the Cochin International Airport here have seized 530 grams of cocaine worth around Rs 5.5 crore and arrested two women holding Cote d’Ivorie (Ivory Coast) passports.
While Kane Simpou (21) was arrested at the airport after she arrived with the substance on a Qatar Airways flight via Doha on Saturday, C V Odothi Juliet (32) was apprehended from a hotel, where she was waiting to receive the cocaine from Kane.
According to Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials, Juliet was a major link in Kochi’s drugs racket and used women to traffic drugs to the city.
Kane, on arrival at Kochi airport, had told Immigration authorities that she was on a business trip to Kochi to purchase clothes. However, the officials became suspicious as she did not have a business visa and checked her baggage, where the cocaine was found.
DRI officials, on questioning Kane, learnt that Juliet was waiting at a hotel to receive the cocaine. They then asked Kane to summon Juliet to her place and the latter was arrested as soon as she arrived. Both women were subsequently produced before the court and remanded for 14 days.
"Juliet has been in Kerala over the last nine months. She had invited Kane to Kerala with the offer to buy clothes worth Rs 20 lakh from Kochi. It is suspected that Juliet had used women as carriers of drugs in a similar manner several times in the past," said a DRI officer.
