The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said on Monday that narcotics weighing around 8 kilograms, worth close to Rs 80 crores were seized at Hyderabad International Airport.

The substance was recovered late on Sunday night in an operation. It has been identified as cocaine, reported ANI.

A male passenger, travelling from Cape Town to Hyderabad on a business visa and a resident of Tanzania, and another female passenger from Angola, travelling on a tourist visa were apprehended based on specific intelligence by DRI.

The DRI said, “A total of 8 kg of cocaine, each passenger carrying 4 kg, was seized from the passengers from the packets concealed in the false bottom of their trolley bags. The estimated value of the seized cocaine in the illicit market is Rs. 80 crore.”

The agency also informed that several cases of seizures of cocaine concealed in pills that are ingested by air travelers were booked by the DRI in the last four months.

It said that the sustained efforts of DRI led to the seizure of more than 350 kg of cocaine, estimated to be worth around Rs 3,500 crore in the illicit market, across the country after January 2021.

It includes a big haul of about 303 kg of cocaine, seized from a containerised cargo at Tuticorin Port, it added.