Hydroponic Weed Worth Rs 33.35 Crore Seized At Mumbai Airport, 8 Arrested

Mumbai Customs has seized 33.35 kilograms of hydroponic weed valued at Rs 33.35 crore over three days, leading to the arrest of eight persons in six cases, officials have said.

Hydroponic cultivation is the method of growing plants with mineral nutrient solutions in a water-based solvent rather than soil.

Those arrested comprise seven passengers and a receiver responsible for collecting the contraband in one case, they said on Thursday.

Since July 8, the Airport Commissionerate of Mumbai Customs has launched a special operation to crack down on drug trafficking by passengers at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), an official said.

In the first case, a traveller was apprehended in the early hours of Wednesday with 5.024 kg of hydroponic weed, hidden inside vacuum-sealed black and transparent plastic packets kept inside the trolley bag, an official said.

"In another case, hydroponic weed worth Rs 2.425 crore was seized, and a passenger was arrested. On Wednesday, a passenger arriving from Bangkok was held with 2.481 kg of suspected hydroponic weed worth Rs 2.481 crore. On the same day, two passengers arriving from Bangkok were held with 11.891 kg of suspected hydroponic weed worth Rs 11.891 crore," he said.

The narcotic substance was cleverly concealed inside the checked-in trolley bag carried by the passengers, both of whom were arrested under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, he said.

"In addition to these two passengers, a person who came to receive the contraband was held from the rickshaw parking lot outside the airport. In two more cases, 11 kilograms of the narcotic substance, valued at Rs 11 crore, was seized from two passengers," the official informed.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said in the legislative council last week that 'hydro' ganja was proving to be a big challenge for the government and asserted that the Centre and state had intensified their fight against the drug business.

On Wednesday, the Maharashtra assembly passed a bill to bring drug peddlers and narcotics crimes under the purview of the stringent anti-organised crime law MCOCA.

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