9.3kg heroin seized from Kuala Lumpur flyer

Ahmedabad: Customs officials at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) Airport on Monday arrested a passenger with 9.3kg of heroin. The passenger, a native of Wayanad in Keralam, had arrived from Kuala Lumpur, said officials. The seizure is the latest in such incidents at the city airport where flyers have tried to sneak in high-value contraband. While past cases included hydroponic weed, Monday’s catch of heroin has high value in the international market value.

‘Based on suspicious x-ray images of the hand baggage of a passenger arriving from Kuala Lumpur, officers intercepted the passenger for detailed examination. Officers found several packets labelled as that of food supplement and chocolates from the hand baggage. Upon detailed scrutiny, the packets were found to contain suspected white powder and white granular substances instead of the declared items,’ a release from the customs department read.

Preliminary testing by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) identified the substance as heroin. The total quantity of 9.3 kg was recovered and seized under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. The passenger has also been arrested, said officials.

‘This seizure comes close on the heels of another successful operation carried out by customs officers on May 16, 2026, wherein 6.54kg of cannabis was seized from a passenger arriving from Thailand. The narcotic substance was concealed in vacuum-sealed packets hidden inside a trolley bag. The passenger involved in the case was also arrested under the NDPS Act, 1985,’ the release added.

Officers said investigation is underway to determine if the passenger was a carrier. The origin and destination of the contraband are also being probed. “Contraband often gets distributed to multiple channels with point-to-point contacts. In the past, several crime syndicates have been busted by multi-organization crackdowns,” said a senior customs official.