In a major crackdown on narcotics smuggling, the Surat Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) has confiscated a massive consignment of high-grade hydroponic cannabis valued at a staggering Rs 6.18 crore from the Surat International Airport. This marks one of the largest seizures of its kind in Gujarat.
Operation Based on Specific Intelligence
The operation unfolded on Monday evening after the Air India Express flight IX-263 from Bangkok touched down at Surat airport around 7:40 pm. Acting on a precise tip-off, a coordinated team from the DCB, Dumas police, CISF, DRI, and the Air Intelligence Unit moved into position. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Bhavesh Rojiya stated that the operation was the result of specific intelligence about a large shipment of hydroponic weed.
The police teams, led by inspectors J N Goswami and S N Parmar, intercepted two passengers who had arrived on the flight. A thorough search of their luggage revealed 16 packets of hydroponic cannabis, weighing a total of 17.65 kg, ingeniously concealed within secret compartments of their trolley bags.
Arrests and Elaborate Concealment Techniques
The arrested passengers were identified as Mohammad Iqbal Ahmed Khan (51), a resident of Chennai, and Rasiya Abdul Kapoor (53), from Vellore. Police later apprehended a third accused, Tamim Ansari (42) from Kanchipuram, who had come to the airport to receive the illegal consignment.
Explaining the sophisticated concealment method, DCP Rojiya noted that the accused had placed additional bags inside the main luggage, creating multiple hidden layers. They used special paper and complex layering techniques in an attempt to bypass security and customs detection systems. All three individuals are natives of Tamil Nadu and have prior cases registered against them under the stringent Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Links to International Smuggling Network
Investigations have uncovered that the seizure is linked to a wider Tamil Nadu-based smuggling network with operations in Southeast Asia. According to police, Ansari had placed the order for the consignment with wanted accused Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Ibrahim, both originally from Chennai but residing in Thailand and Malaysia for several years.
This is not an isolated incident at Surat airport. In November last year, the Surat DCB had seized another large consignment of hydroponic weed from a passenger arriving on the same Air India Express flight from Bangkok. Sources indicate that the carriers in both cases are connected to networks based in Tamil Nadu.
Further probe revealed that the smuggling racket has been active for about three years. Ansari had travelled to Bangkok at least 15 times during this period and recruited multiple carriers within India, offering them between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh per successful trip. About a month and a half ago, another carrier linked to the gang, Tahab Faiyaz, was arrested in Delhi with 1 kg of hydroponic cannabis.
The accused have frequently travelled to countries like Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia in recent years. Police revealed that Kapoor had lived in Malaysia for several years before returning to India and had also travelled to Saudi Arabia. She allegedly accompanied carriers to avoid raising suspicion at airport security checks.
On the day of the arrest, Ansari, who had arrived in Surat a few days earlier, hired a taxi to go to the airport to receive the carriers. A police team kept him under surveillance. As soon as Khan and Kapoor exited the terminal with the luggage, all three were taken into custody. Sources said Ansari had planned to collect the consignment and then return to Chennai by train.
