For ‘free Thailand trip', 3 women agreed to smuggle marijuana worth Rs 8.5 crore to India; arrested at Mumbai airport
Customs officers at the Mumbai international airport Tuesday arrested three women who were allegedly smuggling hydroponic weed or marijuana worth Rs 8.5 crore. During questioning, two of the women reportedly said they agreed to smuggle the contraband as they wanted a free trip to Thailand.
The accused have been identified as Delhi resident Priyanka Kumar, 44; Ishika Kaltari, 19, from Bhopa in Madhya Pradesh; and Asma Bano Rajab, who is in her early 40s and hails from Gujarat. While 3.24 kg of hydroponic weed was seized from Priyanka, 3.52 kg was recovered from Ishika and 1.86 kg from Asma, sources said.
Hydroponically grown marijuana or weed is a highly potent variant and is much more expensive.
According to the sources, the Customs department received information that a large amount of drugs would be smuggled to India from Bangkok via Mumbai airport. Based on the inputs, officers laid a trap at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
Two of the passengers arrived by flight number SL218 on Tuesday, and one passenger arrived by flight number VZ 760 from Bangkok, sources said. They were intercepted by Customs officers at the airport. Upon questioning, they exhibited signs of nervousness and uneasiness. Examination of their baggage subsequently led to the recovery of high-quality hydroponic weed worth Rs 8.5 crore, the officers said.
Asma, a beauty salon employee who had stopped working due certain health complications, said she was promised a commission of Rs 15,000 for the task, and was supposed to deliver the contraband to a person in Surat, the source added.
An operator from Brazil is suspected to be behind this smuggling attempt, another source said. One of the arrested accused also had the contact number of a Brazilian woman, and it is suspected that she supplied the marijuana.
The three accused women were booked under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for smuggling commercial quantities of marijuana. Further investigation is underway.
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