Native of Irinjalakuda held for trying to smuggle hybrid ganja worth Rs 4 crore via Nedumbassery Airport

KOCHI: The customs team of the Nedumbassery Airport in Ernakulam seized hybrid ganja. The ganja seized was brought from Thailand via Kuala Lumpur. Sibin of Irinjalakuda has been taken into custody. 4.1 kg of hybrid ganja was seized from Sibin. The ganja is worth Rs 4 crore in the international market.

The state is witnessing a spike of smuggling of hybrid ganja via airport. The crisis being faced is due to the lack of modern checking systems. Ganja and drugs are presently being smuggled in a way that are not noticed in the X-ray checking. Hybrid ganja worth 13 crores was seized from a native of Kozhikode the other day based on information received by the intelligence department of the Kerala Police. Officials said that otherwise he would have escaped smoothly. Although the accused was questioned by customs officials, no further information is available.

A few days ago, students from Malappuram, studying in Karnataka, were caught trying to smuggle 10 kilograms of hybrid cannabis from Singapore through the Thiruvananthapuram airport. They were also caught on the basis of a tip-off. But customs have not yet been able to find out for whom they brought the stuff or who was behind it.

Ganja can only be detected through the existing X-ray inspection at the airport. Officials say that it is not practical to thoroughly inspect the luggage of all passengers arriving at the airport. There is a need to introduce mordern systems including laser search.