The Mumbai Customs department officials recently arrested five passengers at the Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport and seized 50 kilograms of Hydroponic Weed (Marijuana) worth Rs 50 crore in the illicit market. The passengers had travelled from Bangkok to Mumbai.
The Customs officials nabbed the accused passengers in two separate operations between January 28-31 based on specific intelligence.
“To hoodwink the security personnel the narcotic substances were concealed inside vacuum sealed transparent plastic packets and kept in trolley bags carried by the passengers. After contrabands were recovered from their belongings, the five passengers were placed under arrest under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985,” the Customs officials said.
Customs officials suspect that the accused passengers allegedly smuggled the contraband as carrier for the smuggler’s group in lieu of hefty commission. The investigators are also checking if they have similarly travelled internationally to indulge in smuggling practice in the past.
Besides narcotics, the customs department during the same period also carried out other operations at the city airport and intercepted two passengers arriving from Riyadh and Muscat respectively and recovered 24 KT Gold rods and 24 KT Gold dust in wax respectively having total net weight of 863 grams provisionally valued at Rs 64.50 Lakh in two separate cases. The gold dust was concealed inside the body cavity of the passenger, the customs department said
