BENGALURU: Two Iraqi B.Pharma students who attempted to smuggle pharmaceutical drugs worth over Rs 2.17 crore in 11 strolleys from Bengaluru to Doha were arrested at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) by Bengaluru Customs officials. Sources with the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Customs identified the duo as Mostafa Ismael Dawood, 27, a student of a college affiliated to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences and Mohammed Razaq Mahdi, 27, from Nagarjuna University in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. They had booked tickets for the Qatar Airways flight QR 573 to Doha and were scheduled to leave KIA early on Saturday. “The two men checked-in a total of 11 bags and were waiting to board the flight. Our sleuths found something suspicious about their activity and questioned them. The bags were recalled and opened and a cache of medicines, including ointments and tablet strips, was found,” said an AIU officer.
Daw ood and Mahdi had illegally purchased all the medicines and planned to smuggle them to Qatar en route to Iraq, possibly by air or road at the behest two other Iraqi nationals stationed in Bengaluru, officers said. However, it’s uncertain if the students were acting as carriers for racketeers involved in smuggling pharmaceutical drugs in bulk from Asian countries to Europe and the US via the Gulf. Interrogation of the duo didn’t yield much detail. Thereafter, they were arrested and remanded in judicial custody. Investigators are likely to seek custody and question them further, added sources.
