BENGALURU: Airport customs recently foiled an attempt to smuggle 8 kg of high-quality hydroponic ganja into Bengaluru. The value of the narcotic substance, seised from two passengers arriving from Bangkok by separate flights, is worth nearly Rs 80 lakh.
Hydroponic ganja is grown on water inside labs with nutrients added to them. This is the second such major seizure of this narcotic substance within three weeks at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).
A Customs official told TNIE, “The duo reached Terminal 2 of KIA from Thailand on December 19 and December 20, respectively. Based on passenger profiling, we stopped them. Their passport revealed they had gone to Bangkok 20 days ago and were returning home. This is a modus operandi adopted by those who want to smuggle something by pretending to be tourists.”
The duo were middle aged and natives of India. One of the passengers had concealed the ganja inside his trolley suitcase while the other had hid them inside the packets of snacks he carried in his bags.
“On the surface, both appear to be operating individually. However, they are most likely part of a syndicate,” he added. It is unclear if the duo planned to sell the substance within the city or dispatch it to some other state from here.
The flyers have been booked under the Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substances Act. Investigations are on.
Of late, there is a huge demand for this variety of ganja among youth and it is consumed in parties. During the intervening night of November 30 and December 1, officials had seized hydroponic ganja worth Rs 1.25 crore from flyers at KIA who had concealed them inside packets of chips.