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New Delhi: Customs officials at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport have arrested three passengers in separate smuggling cases after recovering 6.37 kg of suspected hydroponic weed. The suspected contraband was allegedly hidden inside aircraft washrooms under passenger seats and inside baggage, officials said on Monday.

Hydroponic weed is a strong variety of cannabis that is grown in nutrient rich water instead of soil. According to officials the three cases involved passengers who had arrived from Bangkok and Phuket leading to the seizure of a total of 6.37 kg of the suspected substance.

In the first case customs officials stopped an Indian passenger who had arrived from Bangkok on Monday after he was identified through the Advance Passenger Information System. The passenger had already crossed the Green Channel when he was intercepted.

Officials said no suspicious items were found in his baggage. However after searching the aircraft Customs officers recovered four sealed packets of suspected hydroponic weed weighing 3.47 kg. The packets were allegedly hidden inside the rear washrooms of the aircraft. Customs officials said the passenger admitted during questioning that he had hidden the packets inside the aircraft washrooms.

In a separate case customs officers stopped another passenger who had arrived from Phuket on Monday after he was flagged through the Advance Passenger Information System. Even though nothing suspicious was found in the passenger’s baggage officials searched the aircraft and recovered six sealed packets of suspected hydroponic weed weighing 1.5 kg. According to Customs the packets had been concealed under the seats in Row 12.

According to Customs officials the passenger later admitted that he had hidden the packets inside the aircraft. In the third case, an Indian passenger who arrived from Bangkok on Sunday was stopped after crossing the Green Channel, again following Advance Passenger Information System profiling.

During an X ray scan officers noticed suspicious images in the passenger’s baggage. A detailed search led to the recovery of two vacuum sealed packets containing about 1.4 kg of suspected hydroponic weed officials said.

All three passengers were arrested under Section 43 b of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act while the suspected substance was seized under Section 43 a of the Act. Customs officials described the recovered material in all three cases as a green coloured NDPS substance suspected to be ganja or marijuana.

(Curated by: Amber Rashid Shah)