Mumbai:
Two African nationals, including a woman, were nabbed at the city's international airport for trying to smuggle in diamonds worth Rs 92 lakh in their private parts, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials said.
They were arrested yesterday at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, after they landed in the city and were intercepted the day before.
A local court has remanded them to judicial custody for 14 days. According to DRI sources, officials received a tip-off that two foreign nationals would be landing in the city on Friday evening, carrying with them bootlegged diamonds.
Acting on the hint, DRI officials increased surveillance at the airport and intercepted the two. "We found that the couple, Congo national Sow Bian Guena and Angolan national Maria Juana, were exiting in a suspicious way.
They had crossed the green channel of the airport and were about to leave the airport when we stopped them," a source from the DRI said.
3425 caratsSow and Maria were intercepted and detained on Friday, on their way to Mumbai from Rwanda. On questioning, the duo initially denied smuggling diamonds. But Maria broke down when the interrogation became intense.
"Maria said that Sow was carrying 1629.5 carats of diamonds in his rectum, while she was carrying 1795.5 carats of the gems in her private parts," said the official, adding that Maria gave in when the DRI sleuths asked if they were carrying diamonds inside their bodies.
For $1,000 kickback"Maria told us that they were promised $1,000 to deliver the diamonds to a person in the city," the official said, adding that the DRI's biggest challenge would be to trace the person who was to receive the diamonds.
Maria has told the officials that she does not know anything about the buyer's identity. "Though Maria has given out many details, Sow has not spoken anything until now," added the source.