Customs officials at Kempegowda International Airport arrested four passengers after seizing more than 50kg of hydroponic ganja allegedly smuggled from Bangkok, with the contraband valued at over Rs 17 crore. The passengers arrived at Bengaluru airport on Thai Airways flight TG325 and were intercepted after landing at Terminal 2 last week.
According to KIA Customs, the four passengers had travelled on separate tickets and did not appear to have any visible links with one another. They boarded the flight in Bangkok at 10pm on Thursday and reached Bengaluru around midnight on Friday.
The passengers were identified as Badruddin Ansari, 45, a native of West Bengal; Ketan, 22, from Jind in Haryana; Stephen Young, 49, a resident of Kolkata; and Thanveer Khan, a native of Nanjangud in Mysuru district. The report did not specify how the customs officers identified or intercepted the group.
Young was found carrying the largest quantity, 15.7kg, in his checked-in baggage. Customs officials estimated the value of the substance in his possession at Rs 5.5 crore. Thanveer was carrying 10kg, the smallest quantity among the four arrests, valued at approximately Rs 3.5 crore.
The seizure was followed by another interception involving a passenger who had arrived on the same flight. On Sunday, customs officials caught Shyam Motiramani, 44, a native of Bhavnagar in Gujarat, with 9kg of weed. The supplied report did not clarify whether Motiramani was included in the total seizure figure of more than 50kg or whether he was booked in the same case as the four passengers arrested earlier.
The arrests place the focus on the role of Bengaluru airport as an international entry point and on the challenge of detecting consignments carried through passenger baggage. The customs account that the passengers held separate tickets and had no visible connections indicates that the agency treated the cases as individual interceptions at the airport rather than as an openly linked group.
The seizure also highlights the value placed on hydroponic cannabis in the illicit market. Customs estimated the total seized substance at more than Rs 17 crore, although the report did not provide a detailed valuation methodology or identify the destination of the contraband after its arrival in Bengaluru.
The supplied report did not include details of the charges filed, the court proceedings, the agency investigating the alleged Bangkok-to-Bengaluru movement, or any statement from the passengers. Further official information would be required to establish whether the arrests form part of a wider investigation into an organised smuggling network. The immediate action reported by customs is the arrest of the passengers and seizure of the suspected contraband at Kempegowda International Airport.
