Russian yoga teacher held with hashish at SSR airport
Customs officers at SSR International Airport intercepted a 43-year-old Russian woman arriving from Nairobi with 2.1 kg of suspected hashish and 304 g of suspected cannabis, worth Rs 5.4 million, hidden in tea and health-food containers. She said she had bought the drugs in Goa and was taking them back to Russia, and she was handed to the Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit.
🇲🇺 SSR International Airport, Plaine Magnien · Mauritius
Arrested
1
Cannabis
2.404 kg
Agencies
Customs Anti-Narcotics Section, Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit
Officers of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Section of the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) intercepted 2.1 kg of a dark brown substance suspected to be hashish and 304 g of green leaf matter suspected to be cannabis, together worth Rs 5.4 million, in the luggage of a 43-year-old Russian woman at SSR International Airport on 6 July 2018.[1]The drugs were concealed in organic tea and health-food containers found among her clothing after officers in the Green Channel scanned her luggage and directed it for examination.[1]
The passenger had arrived on Kenya Airways from Nairobi and said she had bought the drugs in Goa, India, where she had stayed three months, and would take them back to Russia after her stay in Mauritius.[1]She was informed she had committed an offence under the Dangerous Drugs Act, and the drugs and the passenger were handed over to the Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit (ADSU) for further inquiry.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
1
Cannabis
2.404 kg
Value (official estimate)
MUR 5,400,000
Agencies
Customs Anti-Narcotics Section; Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit
ADSU officers arrested a 45-year-old gardener from Deux-Freres riding a motorcycle in Beau-Champ and seized 64.23 grams of cannabis in small wraps. His motorcycle was seized, a search of his home found nothing incriminating, and the investigation continues.
Mauritian police have now arrested 18 people over about 1.5 tonnes of cannabis said to have been landed from the Thai yacht Dreamer off Round Island on 20 October 2026. The latest suspect, a port-zone employee held for allegedly driving three shore-pickup men, appeared on a provisional conspiracy charge as investigators named Mauritian-British suspect Nishal as the alleged sender.
ADSU officers arrested two young men aged 20 and 21 in Bois-des-Amourettes with 30.88 grams of cannabis in two sachets. A 15-year-old with them fled, and later home searches found nothing further.
ADSU officers arrested a 25-year-old electrician along Rue Madras at Camp-Levieux and found 44 cellophane wrappings of cannabis on him. Police also seized Rs 6,650 suspected to be drug-sale proceeds, and the suspect was placed in detention as the investigation continued.
