Key Points:
A Bollywood actor has been arrested at Chennai Airport for smuggling ₹35 crore of cocaine into the country
He was intercepted during a joint operation by Chennai Customs and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
This has been the third such incident reported from Chennai Airport this month.
A Bollywood actor was arrested with 3.5kg of cocaine at Chennai International Airport on Monday, 29 September 2025. The actor, whose name has been withheld by authorities, has played supporting roles in movies like Student of the Year.
He was arrested in a joint operation by Chennai Customs and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). Working on special information, the Air Intelligence Unit of Chennai Customs detained the man early on Sunday, 28 September 2025, soon after his arrival from Singapore.
He was held, searched, and interrogated. While going through his luggage, officials discovered a false bottom on one of the bags. Hidden there were several plastic pouches containing a white, powdery substance, which field tests confirmed as cocaine. The cocaine totaled to 3.5kg – worth ₹35 crore on the international market.
During interrogation, the actor revealed that he was flying from Cambodia via Singapore. He claims to have been handed the bag by unknown persons in Cambodia, to be delivered to a receiver in Chennai.
Authorities, however, suspect that he planned to deliver the drugs to organised networks in either Mumbai or Delhi. Chennai Customs are looking into his travel history to ascertain if he has been involved in smuggling in the past. Meanwhile, the DRI is investigating the network that employed him.
This incident has garnered a lot of attention for involving a high profile personality, but has been the third such incident reported from Chennai Airport this month.
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On 16 September 2025, the DRI arrested a Kenyan national for smuggling 2kg, or ₹20 crore worth, of cocaine into India. He was detained soon after arriving from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. When stopped for questioning, the suspect gave evasive answers, prompting authorities to search his luggage. They discover several packets of cocaine hidden in his check-in baggage, as confirmed by field tests.
Authorities, working on intelligence information, had been camped out at the airport in wait for a passenger smuggling drugs when they intercepted the suspect. This followed an instance earlier in the month when customs intercepted cocaine being smuggled in from Ethiopia.
On 1 September 2025, Chennai Customs and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seized 5.6kg of cocaine from two Indian nationals travelling from Addis Ababa. The drugs were smuggled through hand baggage, disguised as Ferrero Rocher chocolates.
A deeper investigation revealed that the suspects were part of a larger network involved in international and inter-state drug trafficking. The suspects were to deliver the cocaine to Delhi. Following this lead NCB officials tracked the network's operations leading to the arrest of two more suspects in Mumbai, one of whom was a foreign national.
These have been the latest in a long string of drug trafficking operations intercepted at Chennai International Airport this year. [Rh/DS]
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