Hydroponic ganja worth Rs 23.5 crore seized at Chennai airport, three arrested

CHENNAI: Customs sleuths at Chennai international airport have thwarted an attempt to smuggle in high-potent hybrid hydroponic ganja -- worth Rs 23.5 crore -- from Thailand. They arrested three people --all members of a family -- in connection with the smuggling bid. The arrested included a woman.

Based on specific intelligence, the air intelligence unit intercepted the trio when they landed in Chennai on Jan 26. Their check-in luggage was subjected to searches. Customs officers found packages of frozen fruits. On suspicion, they opened the packages and found hydroponic ganja in them. The overall seizure weighed 23.5 kg, worth Rs 23.5 crore in the international illegal drug market, customs officers said.

During interrogation, the trio told the officers that someone had handed over the packages to them at Bangkok airport to deliver it to someone in Chennai. Each of them got Rs 15,000 for the job.

The trio have been remanded in judicial custody.

Customs officials warned flyers not to accept any parcels from unknown people at airports abroad as they might contain illegal goods and even explosives, which will jeopardise the life of the carrier if caught.

This is the second time that Chennai airport customs seizing hydroponic ganja in January. In the first week of this month, the customs officers seized 5.7 kg of hydroponic ganja and arrested two people. In the last two months, customs and DRI sleuths have busted six attempts to smuggle hydroponic ganja into the country via Chennai airport.

Even as the high tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content in hydroponic ganja makes it highly potent like synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine, smugglers are aware of the loophole that Indian laws do not differentiate between ganja varieties. So, even possessing 20 kg of hydroponic ganja is not considered a commercial quantity, making it easy for smugglers to obtain bail.