Mumbai Customs executed a relentless seven-day operation at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport from December 3 to 10, seizing contraband valued at a staggering Rs 45 crore comprising premium hydroponic marijuana, 24-karat gold bars and jewellery, and high-value diamonds, while arresting 12 international passengers attempting to smuggle the illicit cargo into India.

In the most significant narcotics bust, nine passengers arriving on multiple flights from Bangkok were intercepted after intelligence-led surveillance revealed they were carrying Rs 37.26 crore worth of hydroponic weed ingeniously concealed inside dense tamarind blocks and inside trolley bags deliberately tagged with baggage stickers from unrelated flights to evade detection.

A separate team later apprehended three more Bangkok-origin passengers in possession of an additional 6 kilograms of suspected hydroponic weed valued at Rs 6 crore, pushing the total narcotics haul past Rs 43 crore and highlighting a sophisticated trafficking corridor exploiting Thailand as a transit hub for premium cannabis destined for Indian metropolitan markets.

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Simultaneously, Customs sleuths confiscated 24-karat gold worth Rs 1.51 crore from four passengers through concealed body cavities and modified clothing, while another individual was caught attempting to smuggle cut and polished diamonds valued at Rs 87.75 lakh past the green channel, with all accused immediately placed under arrest and booked under the Customs Act and NDPS provisions.

The sweeping crackdown, described by officials as one of the most successful weeks in recent memory, has dealt a severe blow to organised smuggling syndicates and reinforced Mumbai airport’s reputation as an impregnable barrier against transnational contraband networks operating during the peak winter travel season.

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