Customs officials seize marijuana valued at Rs 4cr from passenger in Bhubaneswar airport

Bhubaneswar, Jan 15 (IANS) The Bhubaneswar Customs officials have foiled a drug smuggling bid and seized marijuana valued at Rs 4 crore from a passenger at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here.

As per a statement issued on Wednesday by the Bhubaneswar Customs, the officials, upon receipt of specific intelligence from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, carried out passenger profiling and subsequently intercepted a passenger coming from Bangkok, Thailand on January 14.

The Customs sleuths during search of checked-in baggage of the passenger found four Kellogg’s Corn flakes/chocos packets.

The officials also found eight vacuum-packed transparent poly bags concealed inside the corn flakes packets.

“The polybags contained a kind of greenish and lumpy substance which tested positive for Marijuana,” said Bhubaneswar Customs.

"Upon confirmation, the packets containing 3.99 kg of hydroponic weeds have been seized. The passenger has been arrested under the provisions of NDPS Act, 1985 and produced before Hon’ble court/remanded to Judicial Custody,” it further added.

It is worth mentioning that Hydroponic weed is cannabis grown in nutrient-rich water without soil, allowing for precise control over the growing environment.

This variety with higher concentrations of cannabinoids and terpenes has high demand in the Indian market. As per reports, the area encompassing Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, is a significant source of synthetic drugs and other illegal substances.

Drugs from this region often enter India through the northeastern states, where difficult terrain, and porous borders makes trafficking easier at multiple entry points. The smugglers also prefer to use air routes to smuggle illegal drugs and other items due to the speed and increasing volume of international air traffic to different parts of India.

The drugs are often concealed in luggage, courier packages or ingested by carriers (known as "mules"). Notably, the smugglers were caught along with contraband gold items at the Bhubaneswar Airport several times in the past as well.