3 Vietnamese arrested in India for cocaine smuggling
Police in India have arrested three Vietnamese citizens for allegedly smuggling three kilograms of cocaine into the country.
Officials arrested the 36-year-old woman and two men, 27 and 39, at a hotel in Central Delhi on Friday night following a tip-off.
Police said one of the men had been waiting at the hotel while the other two arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport on a flight from Ethiopia on Friday evening, the Indian Express reported.
Officials hired a cab from the airport and followed them. They found three kilograms of cocaine hidden in a multi-layered plastic sheet kept in a cavity inside their luggage.
Sources said the drugs could have fetched around US$3 million on the black market.
The investigation found that the man had been staying at the hotel since January 16 and had already delivered a drug consignment to an African in the city, the report said.
The other man also admitted that he had been smuggling drugs to countries such as Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Togo since 2013.
The possession, sale and smuggling of narcotics are punishable by up to 20 years in jail in India, according to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
