Mumbai Customs on Monday said that it arrested four persons with hydroponic weed worth Rs 49 crore in separate seizures at the city international airport, reported the PTI.

The contraband was transported from Tashkent and Bangkok by the accused, who were part of a drug syndicate, he said.

The customs department conducted a special drive at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) from September 12 to 15, the official said, according to the PTI.

The team intercepted a passenger, who arrived from Tashkent, Uzbekistan and found 7.118 kg of hydroponic weed worth Rs 7.1 crore, concealed inside a trolley bag.

Similarly, they caught a person travelling from Bangkok, Thailand, with 18.025 kg of the substance worth Rs 18 crore, he said.

Based on a tip-off, two more travellers from Bangkok were apprehended at the airport with contraband worth Rs 17.9 crore and Rs 6 crore.

Mumbai Customs officers also caught three persons travelling to Jeddah with concealed foreign currency worth Rs 15.96 lakh.

In an another incident, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Sunday said that it has seized 39.2 kg of hydroponic weed from passengers, who arrived at the CSMIA on Sunday, an official said, reported the PTI.

The Mumbai zonal unit of the DRI also apprehended one person who had come to the airport to collect the contraband, the official said.

Based on a tip-off, the authorities intercepted two Indian nationals travelling from Bangkok, Thailand, and on searching their luggage, found 39 packets containing a green substance concealed inside, he said, according to the PTI.

The substance was later found to be hydroponic weed, the official said.

The accused have been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and further probe is underway, he said.

Meanwhile, in an another cases, last week, On the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, the Airport Commissionerate at Mumbai Customs Zone-3, seized 13.83 kg of hydroponic weed worth Rs 13.83 crore in two separate cases, the officials had earlier said.

According to the Mumbai Customs, in the first case, customs officers intercepted a passenger from Bangkok on flight VZ-760 on Sunday, September 7, based on specific intelligence. While examining his baggage, the officers recovered 2.002 kg of suspected hydroponic weed, valued around Rs 2 crore. The drug was concealed inside the accused’s checked-in trolley bag.

“The passenger was arrested following the seizure of the contraband,” said an official.

The Mumbai Customs further said that in the second case at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), based on passenger profiling, customs officers intercepted another passenger arriving from Bangkok on flight UL-143 on Monday. Upon examining the baggage, the officers recovered 11.834 kg of hydroponic weed, with an estimated market value of Rs 11.83 crore.

“The contraband was hidden inside the checked-in trolley bag. The passenger was arrested under the NDPS Act, 1985,” an official had earlier said.

(with PTI inputs)

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