Cocaine seized in Chennai sourced from South America

A day after the seizure of 2.35 kg cocaine from a Columbian national at the airport here, the Narcotics Control Bureau today termed it as one of the largest made in the region and pegged its value at around Rs 10 crore in the illegal market.
The cocaine was believed to have been for distribution in metro cities across the country, a top NCB official said.
The drug seized yesterday from Edwin Enrique, who arrived from Dubai, was of very pure form and had been sourced directly from the Cocaine production belt in South America, NCB Zonal Director Prem Anand Sinha said in a release here.

He said the NCB officials intercepted Enrique at the Anna International Terminal and found the cocaine kept concealed in 219 marker pens (about 10 grams in each).
"The seized contraband is worth around Rs 10 crore in local illegal market and is one of the largest cocaine seizures made in the region", he said.
The passenger was travelling from Rio De Janeiro in Brazil to Chennai via Dubai and though he had a tourist visa till December 2015, he was planning to leave the country on July 9 after delivering the consignment.

Enrique was believed to be working at the behest of a Bogota-based Cocaine cartel, one of the deep rooted and dangerous drug cartels in the world, the NCB official said.

He was an enlisted soldier with the Colombian Military and later came out of it and worked as a truck driver.
The accused is also a professional boxer and had some forged documents from the All India Boxing Association in his possession when he was arrested, Sinha said.
"The seized cocaine is believed to have been for distribution across metro cities in various states. Further investigations are underway to find out his links in Chennai", he added.