Hydroponic cannabis valued at Rs 7 crore seized at Coimbatore Airport, two arrested

Chennai, Aug 12 The Customs officials have seized hydroponic cannabis valued at Rs 7.2 crore at the Coimbatore International Airport.

In two separate seizures on late Monday night, the Coimbatore Air Intelligence Unit and Air Customs officials intercepted two passengers who had arrived from Singapore.

Acting on a specific intelligence input that high-grade narcotics were being smuggled into the country, customs officials kept a close watch on the passengers disembarking at Coimbatore International Airport.

During an intensive baggage screening, officials zeroed in on two passengers - identified as Bhagatman Mujeeb and Sukhail Ubaydullah, both hailing from Kottayam, Kerala.

A detailed search of their luggage led to the discovery of 6.713 kilograms of hydroponic cannabis, a potent variant of marijuana cultivated using advanced water-based techniques. The seized drugs are estimated to be worth around Rs 7 crore in the illegal market.

Both men were taken into custody, booked under relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and later remanded to judicial custody.

In a separate case involving the same flight, customs officials intercepted Tamilarasi Jayamanickam and Pandithurai Subbaiah, both from Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu.

The duo was found smuggling high-end electronic goods worth Rs 18.67 lakh without declaring them to customs as required by law. The undeclared items, believed to include premium gadgets and accessories, were confiscated, and the passengers were booked for customs violations.

Following these back-to-back detections, authorities intensified checks on all arriving passengers from the Singapore flight.

Every piece of luggage was subjected to detailed inspection using scanning equipment, with manual checks conducted where necessary.

Officials said the heightened scrutiny delayed clearance for some passengers, but all remaining travellers were eventually allowed to leave after completing the screening process.

A senior customs officer at Coimbatore airport noted that such seizures highlight the growing trend of smuggling both narcotics and high-value goods through smaller international airports in Tamil Nadu.

"We have strengthened profiling and surveillance measures to ensure that such attempts are detected and stopped," the official said, adding that cooperation between intelligence agencies and customs units has been crucial in these operations.

Authorities have launched further investigations to trace the source of the narcotics and determine whether the two incidents are linked to larger smuggling networks operating in the region.

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