Customs authorities at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport (CCSIA), Lucknow, seized 13 kg of suspected hydroponic marijuana worth an estimated ₹13 crore and arrested an Indian passenger who arrived from Muscat, a release issued by Air Customs read.
The accused was arrested on Monday and produced before a court on Tuesday, which remanded him to judicial custody.
The seizure comes barely a day after immigration and Customs authorities at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi detained six Thai nationals and recovered around 20 kg of hydroponic weed valued at more than ₹19.7 crore from their baggage during the arrival clearance of an Air India Express flight from Bangkok.
According to the release, officers subjected the passenger’s check-in baggage from Oman Air flight to detailed scrutiny after X-ray imaging and further analysis indicated suspicious contents. The passenger, an Indian national who arrived at the airport on June 1, was subsequently identified, tracked and intercepted.
Customs officials said a personal search and detailed examination of the baggage led to the recovery of 10 polythene packets containing a green-coloured substance suspected to be hydroponic marijuana, popularly known as hydroponic weed. The packets were allegedly concealed inside five chocolate packets, each carrying two smaller packets.