Mumbai airport: Customs arrests 8 persons in 6 cases with hydroponic weed worth Rs 33.35 cr

Mumbai, Jul 10 (PTI) Mumbai Customs has seized 33.355 kilograms of hydroponic weed worth Rs 33.35 crore in the last three days, leading to the arrest of eight persons in six cases, officials said on Thursday.

Hydroponic cultivation is the method of growing plants with mineral nutrient solutions in a water-based solvent rather than soil.

Those arrested comprise seven passengers and a receiver responsible for collecting the contraband in one case, they added.

"Since July 8, the Airport Commissionerate of Mumbai Customs has taken action at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA). In the first case that took place in the early hours of Wednesday, a traveller was apprehended with 5.024 kg of hydroponic weed, which was hidden inside vacuum sealed black and transparent plastic packets kept inside the trolley bag," an official said.

"In another case, hydroponic weed worth Rs 2.425 crore was seized and a passenger was arrested. On Wednesday, a passenger arriving from Bangkok was held with 2.481 kg of suspected hydroponic weed worth Rs 2.481 crore. On the same day, two passengers arriving from Bangkok were held with 11.891 kg of suspected hydroponic weed worth Rs 11.891 crore," he said.

The narcotic substances were cleverly concealed inside the checked-in trolley bag carried by the passengers, both of whom were arrested under provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, he said.

"In addition to these two passengers, a person who came to receive the contraband was held from the rickshaw parking lot outside the airport. In two more cases, 11 kilograms of narcotics worth Rs 11 crore was seized from two passengers," the official informed. PTI DC BNM