Lucknow, Customs officials at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow have arrested an Indian passenger and seized suspected hydroponic marijuana worth about ₹10.39 crore from his baggage, officials said on Saturday.
The seizure was made by officers of the Air Intelligence Unit of Customs following specific intelligence inputs and further analysis, an official statement issued on Friday said.
The passenger arrived at the Lucknow airport on Oman Air flight WY-265 from Bangkok via Muscat. Acting on the intelligence, customs officials intercepted him at the Green Channel and subjected his personal belongings and baggage to X-ray screening and examination.
During the search of his trolley bag, officials recovered 13 polythene packets containing a green-coloured substance suspected to be ganja , specifically hydroponic weed. The net weight of the seized substance was found to be 10.397 kilograms.
The statement said a diagnostic test conducted on the recovered material prima facie indicated that it was ganja or hydroponic marijuana. The estimated value of the contraband has been assessed at approximately ₹10.39 crore.
Customs officials said the passenger was found to be in violation of provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. He has been booked under relevant sections of the Act relating to possession and smuggling of narcotic substances.
The accused was arrested, while the suspected contraband was seized.
Further investigation is underway, the statement added.
The seizure follows another major narcotics bust at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi on June 1, when customs officials arrested six Thai nationals, including three women, and recovered 19.7 kg of hydroponic cannabis valued at more than ₹19 crore from their trolley bags after they arrived on a flight from Bangkok.
Investigators alleged that the accused had earlier smuggled narcotics through the Kolkata-Gaya route and are probing a wider network involved in the trafficking of hydroponic cannabis, a high-potency variety of cannabis cultivated in a nutrient-rich water-based system.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
