NT Reporter
Panaji
The air intelligence unit (AIU) of the Goa Customs seized 23.83 kilograms of hydroponic weed (cannabis) worth over Rs 8.34 crore and arrested five people at Manohar international airport, Mopa.
Three were passengers, while two others had been waiting for them outside the airport. The contraband was concealed in food packets in the passenger’s check-in baggage.
According to customs officials, two of the accused had arrived from Bangkok via Muscat, while one accused had arrived from Abu Dhabi via Muscat at Mopa Airport on March 25.
Sources said the remaining two accused had been waiting outside the airport to receive the passengers. All the accused are Indian nationals.
“Acting on passenger profiling, AIU officers intercepted passengers upon their arrival and conducted a detailed examination of their baggage. The said examination led to the recovery of 23.832 kilograms of hydroponic weed (cannabis), concealed inside food packets in the passenger’s check-in baggage,” said commissioner of customs, Goa, Sunil B Deshmukh.
He said the substance tested positive for drugs when an NDPS field testing kit was used.
The 23.832 kg contraband was seized and the passengers were arrested under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, Deshmukh said.
