The officials of the Airport Customs at the international airport in Mumbai have so far seized marijuana totally valued at over Rs 20 crore in at least six cases this month. Interestingly, in all the cases, the contraband was being smuggled from Bangkok. The agency is probing if the same syndicate is involved in the smuggling of drugs.
According to the Customs sources, on Saturday, based on profiling of passengers, Customs officials intercepted a passenger arriving from Bangkok and recovered 8909 grams of suspected Ganja (Marijuana) having an approximate illicit market value of Rs 8.9 crores. The contraband was concealed in boxes containing toys and food stuff kept in the baggage of the passenger.
On Friday, Customs officials had intercepted a passenger arriving from Bangkok and seized 1.452 kilograms of suspected Ganja (Marijuana) having an illicit market value of Rs 1.45 crores. The contraband goods were ingeniously packed in vacuum-sealed packets, wrapped with different garments and concealed inside the check-in bag of the passenger.
The Customs officials on last Monday had intercepted a passenger who arrived from Bangkok and seized 3.46 kilograms of contraband purported to be Ganja (Marijuana) with an estimated provisional value of Rs 3.46 crores. The purported Ganja (Marijuana) was concealed in food packets which were placed inside a trolley bag carried by a passenger.
A passenger who arrived from Bangkok on October 13 was intercepted by Customs officials and seized 5.07 kilograms of Ganja (Marijuana) with an estimated provisional value of Rs 5.07 crores. The purported Ganja was concealed in food packets/boxes wrapped with gift wrappers which were placed inside the trolley bag carried by the passenger.
On October 12, the Customs officials had intercepted and seized 596 grams of suspected Ganja (Marijuana) with an estimated value of Rs 59.60 lakh. The contraband was concealed inside food packets, which were placed inside a trolley bag carried by the passenger who arrived from Bangkok, Thailand.
Earlier this month, the Customs officials had intercepted a passenger who arrived from Bangkok and seized 1346 grams of suspected Ganja (Marijuana) with an estimated provisional value of Rs 1.34 crore. The contraband was packed in vacuum-sealed packets and further concealed inside food packets, which were placed inside a trolley bag carried by the passenger.
"The modus-operandi used in all the cases were similar and the passengers had arrived from Bangkok. It is highly possible that the same syndicate is involved behind all these smuggling cases. We are probing about the suppliers and receivers of these consignments," said a Customs official.
