Customs officials arrest passenger in Mumbai airport for smuggling hydroponic ganja worth ₹14.5 crore

The customs department stated on Thursday that the passenger was stopped at the airport based on the passenger’s spot profiling exercise.

During the examination of the baggage, the officers recovered 14.548 kg of greenish product, suspected to be hydroponic weed, officials said. A sample of the contraband was tested in the narcotics field test kit, and its result prima facie confirmed that the seized item was hydroponic weed or marijuana, which has an illicit market value of approximately ₹14.5 crore, said a Customs source.

The passenger was subsequently arrested under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, the customs officials stated. He told the officials that he was offered a hefty commission for smuggling the contraband, sources said.

The Customs Department said that it was checking the international travel history of the passenger to confirm if he had travelled abroad for the same purpose. Investigators are also collecting the details of the carrier’s handler and the person who was supposed to receive the consignment from him.

Last week, the Customs officials arrested a passenger who was attempting to smuggle hydroponic weed by falsely declaring it as confidential diplomatic cargo linked to national security. The contraband was concealed inside envelopes bearing Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) markings and sealed with official MEA tape. The arrested passenger’s bag also contained copies of various United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports and fake top-secret mission reports.