- Hydroponic weed worth Rs 54 crore was seized at railway stations in the two cities
- Another man was caught with 18 kg of the same drug at a Bengaluru hotel
- Hydroponic weed is cannabis cultivated not in soil but in nutrient-rich water
Drugs worth Rs 54 crore meant to be smuggled on the Rajdhani Express, one of India's most premium trains, have been seized in Bengaluru and Bhopal.
On Wednesday, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), acting under 'Operation Weed Out', intercepted bags of hydroponic weed in Bengaluru and Bhopal stations. In Bengaluru, 29.88 kg of hydroponic weed was seized, followed hours later by 24.18 kg being confiscated in Bhopal. Both consignments were meant to be taken to Delhi on the Rajdhani Express.
In a parallel raid, a man who had returned from Thailand was caught in a Bengaluru hotel with 18 kg of the same drug. The alleged mastermind was later arrested in New Delhi with Rs 1.02 crore in cash. In all, six people were taken into custody.
Hydroponic weed is cannabis cultivated not in soil but in nutrient-rich water. This method raises the THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) content, making it far more intoxicating and lucrative than regular marijuana. Rolled into cigarettes or smoked in papers, it has become a prized commodity in international drug syndicates.
The bust also ties into a bigger, darker pattern. Just days earlier, on August 16, another raid in Jagdishpura, Bhopal, had revealed a secret drug lab where 61.2 kg of liquid mephedrone and over 541 kg of precursor chemicals, worth nearly Rs 92 crore, were recovered. Investigators linked the lab to Salim "Dola" Ismail, a trafficker operating from Turkey with connections to the network of Dawood Ibrahim, India's most-wanted terrorist.
Before that, in October 2024, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad and the Narcotics Control Bureau had unearthed a massive drug factory in Bhopal's Bagroda Industrial Area, seizing 907 kg of mephedrone valued at Rs 1,800 crore.
For years, Bhopal was dismissed as a transit stop in India's narcotics trade. Experts say the labs and growing seizures suggest it has evolved into a production base and a distribution hub. Its central location offers cartels easy access to the north, west, and east, and the city's relative anonymity and weaker vigilance make it an attractive nerve centre.
Hovering over all of this is the ghost of Dawood Ibrahim. Once synonymous with extortion and gang wars, his syndicate has quietly shifted to narcotics - a business with higher profits and fewer risks. Salim Dola and Umaid-ur-Rehman, backed by Dubai and Pakistan funding, are believed to be funnelling drugs into India using D-Company's old supply lines.
