The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has arrested a Nigerian national who swallowed 12 pellets or capsules containing cocaine after being apprehended by agency officials on January 14. The accused was arrested from outside a prominent five-star hotel in Mumbai’s Juhu area on the basis of a tip received during the interrogation of another suspect.
Identified as Ifeamyichukwu Pius, the man swallowed a large number of pellets he had kept in his mouth as NCB officials started frisking him. Pius was rushed to the JJ hospital where a CT scan and X-ray was conducted to confirm the presence of contraband.
Doctors at the JJ Hospital initiated the process of purging the pellets without wasting any time since the bursting of contraband could prove fatal for the Nigerian national. Officials with the NCB had to stand guard for the five days it took doctors to retrieve 12 capsules or pellets containing a gram of cocaine each from Pius’ body.
“Further investigation is in progress to identify other associates and suppliers of Pius. This is a first kind of case where a peddler is carrying drugs in his mouth and distributing them,” said NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.
Officials from the NCB went on to add that in such circumstances, it becomes very difficult for law enforcement agencies to ascertain the drug peddler’s involvement and make an instant recovery. The NCB’s Mumbai unit has developed a network of reliable informers enabling them to successfully unearth a unique modus operandi and seize contraband from drug peddlers.
Ifeamyichukwu Pius was discharged from JJ Hospital on January 18 and will now be questioned by NCB officials.
