Pune: Officials of the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Pune customs recovered nearly 1kg of high-end hydroponic weed from a passenger arriving from Bangkok in yet another seizure at Pune airport.According to customs officials, the flyer had landed in Pune on an Air India Express flight (IX-241) from Thailand. “A total of 960g of hydroponic weed was recovered from the passenger. It is estimated to be worth Rs 33.60 lakh in the illicit market,” an official said.This seizure comes close on the heels of almost 77kg haul of hydroponic weed by Pune customs on March 29. The seizure was valued at over Rs 26 crore and led to the arrest of one person. “In the present case, the contraband was found concealed in the passenger’s hand baggage. Two transparent vacuum-sealed packets of hydroponic weed were recovered. These packets had been wrapped in carbon paper,” the official said.The officials said carbon paper had repeatedly been used by smugglers to conceal contraband like drugs and gold. “There is a belief among smugglers that wrapping contraband in carbon paper prevents detection during x-ray scanning,” the official added.The passenger has been arrested under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. Further investigations are underway to identify the larger network behind the smuggling attempt, the official added.
