Narcotics department seizes ganja smuggled from Thailand at Chennai airport

CHENNAI: The Narcotics Intelligence Bureau in Chennai seized ganja worth Rs 80 lakh from a passenger who arrived from Thailand via Delhi on Tuesday.

In the late hours of Monday, the NIB team arrived at the city airport following a tip-off, claiming the finest quality of ganja being brought to the city via a Delhi flight from Thailand. On Tuesday morning, the bureau team intercepted Mohammed Faruk (30), who reached Chennai from Delhi on an Indigo Airlines flight.

Upon checking his baggage, the officers found 1.5 kg of first-quality ganja worth Rs 80 lakh. Faruk revealed during questioning that two men from the city sent him to Thailand to purchase the contraband and instructed him not to take direct flights to avoid being caught by the Customs department.

On instruction, Faruk called the duo who orchestrated the smuggling and asked them to pick him up from the airport. On their arrival, NIB personnel, who were in disguise, surrounded the pair and arrested them.

Police said that the group was planning to sell the drugs to college students in the city, as it has high demand.