Hydroponic ganja smuggling racket busted across airports in India; Kerala kingpins identified
CHENNAI: Hydroponic ganja, locally known as OG, is the new rage across India as customs and directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) officials in airports like Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai have made several seizures from passengers coming from Thailand.
Interestingly, the modus operandi used in all these cases is similar - the drug is packed in air-tight plastic bags which are concealed inside tetra packs of fruit juices, chocolates or ready-to-eat breakfast items. This is to ensure that its smell doesn’t escape and alert the officials.
Reliable sources say that they have identified the kingpins of the racket to be from Kerala. A pattern has also emerged where carriers originally from the state were arrested in different airports across the country. For instance, on December 21, 3.24 kg of ganja was seized from a Kerala native at Chennai airport.
Chennai Customs have made similar seizures at least three times in the last one month, totally confiscating at least 13 kg. Last week DRI seized 15kg from Ahmedabad airport and arrested two including a Thai national. Hyderabad customs made a 2.2 kg seizure on November 25, while Mumbai customs have booked multiple similar cases.
Hydroponic ganja is cultivated in a water-based solution rich in nutrients instead of soil and is popular in Thailand, where the consumption of the narcotic is legal, say sources.
P Aravindhan, Chennai zonal director of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content in hydroponic ganja is 30-40% as compared to 3-4% in regular ganja. This makes the former as potent as cocaine.
Hydroponic weed costs Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore per kg, which is as costly as the synthetic drug methamphetamine and several times more expensive than regular weed, said an official.
Another important aspect of this modus operandi is that the quantity of ganja brought in is of intermediate quantity and significantly lesser than the commercial quantity of ganja as notified by the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act which is 20 kg.
This means that even though the narcotic is as potent as cocaine, the smugglers get bail within six months and a less severe punishment under the NDPS Act, say official sources. Agencies are mulling enhanced punishment for possession of this ganja for this reason, sources added.
Hydroponic ganja smugglers have also used the modus operandi of landing at different international airports in India and taking the domestic route to their destination to avoid detection.
This was busted by TN police’s organised crime intelligence unit (OCIU) in November, when a Mannady resident smuggling hydroponic ganja from Thailand was arrested outside Chennai’s domestic terminal.
As potent as cocaine
Hydroponic ganja is grown in nutrient-rich water solution instead of soil in Thailand and is ten times more tetrahydrocannabinol than regular ganja. It costs around Rs 80 lakh-1 crore per kilogram.