A major consignment of high-quality hydroponic marijuana imported from California, US, was seized by the Airport Special Cargo Commissionerate, Mumbai. In all, 41kgs of high-curated quality weed cookies and brownies used for recreation in high-circle party circuits were seized by Mumbai Customs Zone III from a leading courier service at the Mumbai Airport Customs Courier Centre.
Customs officers intercepted a package with 910gms of marijuana concealed in an air purifier originating from California. Intelligence developed with data analytics assistance by Indian Customs at the international courier terminal of CSMI airport led to the interception of three more parcels. Intensive search led to the seizure of high-quality hydroponic marijuana weighing 27.478kgs, which was hidden in various household items such as an outdoor waterfall, a faux leather chair and a propane gas fire pit barbeque. High-quality curated marijuana from North America commands premiums upward of Rs 3,000 per gram in upper-class party circuits.
Disguised as autorickshaw drivers and deliverymen, Customs officers undertook ‘controlled delivery’ of dummy parcels of identical shapes and looks to nab the actual recipient of the narcotics consignments. Sustained surveillance of targeted addresses by undercover Customs officers led to the arrest of an accused while accepting the dummy consignment, which led them to another accused who was supposed to collect the contraband. The third accused and mastermind of the operation was arrested subsequently and a search at his Vashi residence led to the seizure of another 20kgs of marijuana and 120gms of hashish. Amongst the seized contraband was several packets of cookies and brownies labelled ‘Nightmagic Cookies’, ‘Party Progress’ etc.
The arrested accused, identified as John Peter Monteiro, Ashish Bharti and Sunil Pawar, imported narcotics from abroad and supplied them to niche high-end party circuits.
.jpg)
