Chennai customs busted drug smuggling route, Sri Lanka as transit point for high-potency ganja; 2 held

CHENNAI: Customs sleuths at Chennai airport have uncovered a new modus operandi used by drug smugglers, using Sri Lanka as a transit point to bring high-potency ganja into India from Thailand.

Two couriers have been arrested in recent weeks as part of the ongoing crackdown. In the latest case, a male passenger who flew in from Bangkok via Colombo was intercepted by the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) on Tuesday. Upon checking his baggage, officials found six transparent food packets emitting a strong odour. These packets contained green flowering and fruiting tops of marijuana weighing 2.8 kg. Field drug tests confirmed the contents as marijuana.

The substance was seized under the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. During questioning, the passenger admitted he was promised Rs 1.2 lakh to deliver the contraband in Bengaluru, planning to travel there by road. He has been remanded in judicial custody. Customs officials linked the incident to an earlier seizure on 16 May, in which six kilograms of hydroponic ganja were smuggled from Thailand via Colombo.

The contraband had been packed inside 13 sealed snack packets labelled as ‘Ritz toasted chips’ and ‘multigrain tortilla chips’. Authorities believe smugglers are using Sri Lanka to bypass strict checks usually applied to flyers arriving directly from Bangkok at Chennai airport. In 2024 so far, around 45 kg of hydroponic ganja smuggled from Thailand has been seized at the airport. Investigations indicate that the final delivery point in both recent cases was Bengaluru, not Chennai.

Officials are examining whether the same network is involved in both operations. In a separate case, the Chennai Customs Postal Appraising Department (PAD) intercepted a parcel earlier this month. After suspicious results from X-ray scanning, 1.022 kg of hydroponic ganja was found hidden in two packets. This consignment was also seized under the NDPS Act, and investigations are ongoing to identify the recipient.