delhi

Updated: May 14, 2015 00:57 IST

A 50-year-old Afghan national, who came to India from Kabul, was on Wednesday arrested by the police for allegedly smuggling over 95 capsules of heroin worth Rs 3 crore that he had gulped down and stored in his stomach.

Noor Amir, who was staying in south-east Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar, was found lying unconscious near Kasturba Niketan.

A passerby who spotted the man made a PCR call and helped police take him to the hospital.

At first, Amir was very reluctant to see a doctor but later agreed.

“He told us that he has a stomach ache and that he needs a laxative since he has been suffering from constipation. When we asked him about how he fainted, he told us that he got a heat stroke,” a senior police officer said.

As the police was about to leave from the hospital after admitting Amir, one of the policemen, who got suspicious about him asked the doctor to carry out his full body scan.

“Amir kept asking for a laxative. He told the doctor that he does not require any treatment as it is a regular stomach ache due to constipation. This is what got us suspicious,” a senior police officer said.

He added, “In the past a similar case was reported where an Afghan national had died of a drug overdose after one capsule had burst inside his stomach. It was only during the post-mortem that the capsules were recovered from his body. In this case also, when Amir kept complaining of a stomach ache and asked the doctor to give him a laxative, we became suspicious and asked the doctor to carry out a scan and we were right. Over 95 capsules of drugs were seen in the scan,” a senior police officer said

Following this a case under the NDPS Act was registered against Amir. According to the police, these men work as carriers of drugs.

They gulp down these capsules that has heroine in them so that they can easily escape security checks at the airport.

They easily escape the checks as there are no body scanners available at the airport in India. After reaching India, they consume laxatives and pass the capsules through stool. These capsules are then sterilised and the heroin sold, police sources said.

The police are now trying to establish the drug trail. “He came from Kabul but now we need to ascertain the identity of the people he works for and the syndicate he had to deliver the consignment to. The investigation in the matter is on,” police said.