Hydroponic weed smuggling targets Odisha; three arrests made in 10 days at BPIA

This is the third arrest made by Customs in connection with smuggling of the contraband from BPIA in the last 10 days.
Hydroponic weed seized at city airport
Hydroponic weed seized at city airport ()
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BHUBANESWAR: International drug syndicates appear to be targeting Odisha as entry point to smuggle hydroponic weed, a highly potent variety of ganja, using mules as would the back-to-back seizures from Biju Patnaik International Airport suggest. In all cases, the carriers have been found to be Indians with tourist visa.

On Tuesday, Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate arrested a Kerala native and seized about 4 kg hydroponic weed worth a whopping Rs 4 crore. Acting on a tip-off, the officers stopped the suspect after he arrived here from Bangkok.

During the scanning of his check-in baggage, they recovered 3.990 kg of hydroponic weed from eight poly bags concealed inside four Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and Kellogg’s Chocos packets. He was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

This is the third arrest made by Customs in connection with smuggling of the contraband from BPIA in the last 10 days. On January 4, the department had arrested two women reportedly from West Bengal with over 9 kg hydroponic weed worth a staggering Rs 9 crore after they arrived here from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

Thailand has reportedly become one of the important sources of the weed which is sold at the rate of around Rs 1 crore per kg in markets here, said sources in Customs department. Hydroponic weed is cultivated in a water-based solution rich in nutrients instead of soil and is popular in Thailand, where consumption is legal.

After a crackdown against hydroponic weed carriers in places like Bengaluru and Chennai in recent months, the smugglers have reportedly shifted their focus towards comparatively smaller airports in the country including BPIA. What remains a cause of concern is that most of the carriers are not in the list of the high risk passengers and are lured in by quick and easy money to transport the contraband. “In both the cases detected at BPIA, the mules were holding tourist visas,” said sources.

Sources said, smugglers offer something around Rs 20,000 per kg of hydroponic weed to the carriers to smuggle the contraband into the country. “In some instances, the senders are engaging habitual peddlers but in a bid to lower the risk of getting caught, they are luring Indian tourists visiting foreign countries or those who are arriving here on student, health and tourist visas,” said sources.

Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) sources said a ‘watcher’ appointed by the senders also travels along with the carriers, albeit without their knowledge. The watcher flees if the checking is stringent at the airports and remains unconcerned if the carriers get nabbed by the authorities concerned.

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has a list of high risk passengers. However, it gets difficult to trace the passengers who have no criminal antecedents and engaged in transporting hydroponic weed in lieu of money, said sources.

In the recently detected cases in BPIA, the three passengers’ destination was not Bhubaneswar but their handlers had asked them to land here and deliver the consignments before the contraband could have been transported to different parts of the country, said Custom department sources.

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