Ahmedabad: Customs officials, aided by a narcotics sniffer dog pointing towards a suspicious package, seized 6kg of hydroponic ganja at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport recently. The female passenger carrying the package has been arrested.“Based on passenger profiling, x-ray scanning and signal from the sniffer dog, officers of the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU), Ahmedabad customs, intercepted a female foreign national of Myanmar origin, who had arrived from Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday,” a customs department release said.“During a thorough examination of her baggage, a specially created cavity/fake layer was detected inside the trolley bag. Upon examination, five vacuum-packed transparent polythene packets containing green-coloured substance were found concealed therein. Preliminary testing of the recovered substance returned a positive result for ganja (hydroponic marijuana). The total weight of the recovered contraband contained in the five packets was 6,073.7g,” the release stated.The passenger was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.Customs officials said that it is the latest in a string of incidents where the high-value contraband is peddled in the country through the air route. “The marijuana is grown with high nutrients and has relatively higher concentration of psychotropic substances. Thus, it is in high demand in certain circuits, and smugglers are trying to sneak it in through various routes,” said a senior official. “Checking has been tightened for such substances,” he added.
