Mumbai Customs Arrests Three for Smuggling ₹8 Crore Worth of Marijuana from Bangkok
As Marijuana's Legal Limit is 1,000 Grams, Customs Officials Charge Smugglers with Commercial-Quantity Offense
Mumbai Customs Detains Three for Smuggling ₹8 Crore of Marijuana from Bangkok
Since Marijuana’s Legal Threshold is 1,000 Grams, Customs Officials Prosecute Smugglers for Commercial-Quantity Offense
Three passengers were arrested by Mumbai airport customs officials in two operations while they were smuggling hydroponic marijuana worth ₹8.12 crore from Bangkok on Monday. The illegal goods were hidden in their clothes packed in trolley bags.
The operations were conducted during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, according to sources in customs.
During the initial operation, officials detained Salman Shaikh, 24, who had come to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport from Bangkok on a Thai Airways flight. A personal check did not result in any prohibited items, but when officials searched his luggage, they found ten packets hidden in his clothes inside a trolley bag. The packets had 4.98 kilograms of hydroponic marijuana, which was estimated to be worth ₹4.98 crore in the illegal market.
Also, in the second operation, two passengers, 38-year-old Bipinkumar Patel and 36-year-old Nileshbhai Donda, were nabbed on the basis of targeted intelligence after coming from Bangkok on an Air India flight on Monday.
When the trolley bag of Patel was checked, packets of 3.14 kilograms of hydroponic marijuana were recovered. The approximate value of the seized contraband is ₹3.15 crore in the black market, another source in customs said.
Patel, who hails from Surat, is a garment vendor and was offered ₹30,000 for playing the role of a carrier. Donda, on the other hand, was tasked with keeping a watch on Patel by their handler.
The three accused were arrested under the appropriate sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
As marijuana’s maximum individual quantity is outlined as 1,000 grams, the customs authorities booked the accused under the charge of smuggling commercial amounts of narcotics, a crime punishable with strict punishment on conviction.
The accused were brought before the court on Tuesday. Three Advocate Ashish Singh, who appeared for them in court, claimed that his clients were not involved in the smuggling. But the court sent all three accused to judicial custody.
