Four passengers carrying hydroponic weed, exotic animals, drones held at Mumbai airport

In one of the cases, officials recovered wildlife (live animals), including iguanas, orange bearded dragons, and raccoon (1 dead).

The Customs department seized suspected hydroponic weed worth nearly ₹4 crore besides drones and smuggled exotic wildlife, both live and dead, in four separate cases at the Mumbai airport, officials said on Monday.

Aircraft stationed at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (PTI/File)

It arrested four passengers, who had landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) from Bangkok and Colombo, in connection with the seizures, an official said.

In the first case, Customs sleuths seized 1.964 kg of suspected hydroponic weed (marijuana), valued at ₹1.96 crore, and arrested the passenger carrying the contraband, he said.

In the second case, they recovered wildlife (live animals), including iguanas (19), orange bearded dragons (10), raccoon (1 dead), quince monitor lizard (1 alive), squirrel (2 critical, 1 dead) and, Central American squirrel monkey (2 dead), according to the official.

These wildlife species were concealed inside a trolley bag carried by a passenger, who was placed under arrest, he said. In the third case, the Customs department intercepted a passenger who arrived from Colombo with seven drones valued at ₹32.19 lakh.