Overview
- Goa Customs’ Air Intelligence Unit, which intercepted travelers on Wednesday at Manohar International Airport in Mopa, seized 23.8 kg of cannabis hidden inside food packets.
- Field tests confirmed the substance as hydroponic cannabis, and officers arrested five under India’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985.
- The detainees arrived on international routes from Bangkok and from Abu Dhabi via Muscat, according to the customs commissioner’s statement.
- Officials valued the haul at more than Rs 8 crore on the black market, and the agency has opened a probe to trace the supply chain and handlers.
- Hydroponic cannabis is grown indoors in water and nutrients rather than soil, which often produces higher-potency buds that fetch premium prices for smugglers.