Following the installation of a whole-body scanning facility at the SSR International Airport, the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) has detected its first case of suspected corporeal concealment of drugs. The Customs Anti-Narcotics Section (CANS) of the MRA intercepted two passengers at the SSR International Airport, on Friday 22 April 2022. They arrived in Mauritius on board Kenya Airways flight KQ 270 from Nairobi, Kenya. The two passengers aged 38 and 46 respectively, were leaving through the Green Channel when they were intercepted by MRA CANS officers. The two passengers were subject to a body search and an examination of their luggage was carried out, but nothing incriminating was found. A body scan was eventually, carried out on both passengers and their body scanning images revealed the presence of foreign bodies in their stomachs, suspected to be dangerous drugs. Upon questioning, both passengers confessed having swallowed a number of pellets each. The passengers were handed over to ADSU for medical examination and follow up. After the necessary medical examination, the two passengers purged 119 pellets of drug suspected to be heroin.
It was a Nigerian couple who were to stay in Mauritius for 10 days. The two suspects who served as mules to transport pellets of heroin in the stomach thought they could thwart the surveillance of police. Peter Chinonso NKemjika and Justina Ngozi Obiabusi, of their respective names, had swallowed between them, not less than 119 pellets of heroin worth Rs 37.5 million. The 38-year-old man, a plumber by trade, had 62 pellets weighing 1,418g in his body. While Justina Ngozi Obiabusi, a 45-year-old businesswoman, had ingested 57 pellets weighing 1,085g.
On Monday, April 25, a controlled delivery exercise was mounted, to apprehend the recipient of this shipment. The Anti Drug and Smuggling Unit officers let Peter Chinonso NKemjika and Justina Ngozi Obiabusi go to the meeting place in a cab. According to the instructions of their contact abroad, they were to change the establishment where he was to stay in Trou aux Biches to a hotel in Mahébourg that day. The police have been monitoring the suspects and the surrounding area, but nothing has come of it, and those who ordered the drugs have not been traced so far.
The suspects’ cell phones will be decrypted to find more clues. In the meantime, the Nigerians are facing a provisional charge of drug importation and have appeared in the Mahébourg court. The police objected to their release on parole and they were returned to their cells. The investigation continues.
