Customs officials at Surat airport have uncovered a major international drug-smuggling operation after seizing 8.5 kg of hydroponic cannabis—commonly known as hybrid marijuana—worth an estimated Rs 8 crore from an Air India flight arriving from Bangkok.
The recovery was made immediately after Air India flight IX-263 landed in Surat on February 6. Acting on specific intelligence inputs, customs and security agencies launched a search operation that led to two separate seizures from inside the aircraft.
According to media reports, officials said the first breakthrough came when six suspicious packets wrapped in brown tape in the footrest area of seat number 28-A.
Media reports further said that Airport security alerted customs authorities, who examined the packets and confirmed they contained hybrid ganja. The total weight recovered from this set was 2.025 kg.
During further inspection of the aircraft, customs teams found a second stash—around 6.5 kg of hydroponic cannabis—concealed behind backrest cushions of seats 24-A, 24-B, 25-A and 25-B.
Four passengers seated in the area were detained and questioned. They were identified as Pravin Karamveer (25), Vikram Bhaukal (32) and Pradeep, all from Rohtak district in Haryana, along with Anshul Shivkumar Gupta (22) from Mahoba district in Uttar Pradesh.
Investigators said all four allegedly admitted during interrogation that the narcotics had been smuggled from abroad and were meant for distribution within India.
A case has been registered under Sections 8(C), 20 and 23 of the NDPS Act, and all four accused have been formally arrested. Customs officials have now launched an extensive probe to trace the wider syndicate behind the operation.
The Surat seizure comes amid growing concern over the spread of narcotics and synthetic drugs across Gujarat, where authorities say marijuana cultivation and trafficking networks have expanded significantly.
In Ahmedabad, the Special Operations Group (SOG) has carried out sustained crackdowns over the past year. Police records show that in 27 cases, 46 accused were arrested with mephedrone (MD drugs) and marijuana worth Rs 2.55 crore.
Officials say synthetic substances such as mephedrone are being imported from abroad, including Thailand, and are increasingly being used to target youth in urban centres. Investigations have also flagged cases of illegal drug production linked to certain pharmaceutical units.
Alongside synthetic drugs, illegal cannabis cultivation has reportedly been detected in several Gujarat districts, including Bhavnagar, Botad, Rajkot and Junagadh. Police sources say marijuana is being grown not only in fields but also in residential premises in some locations.
Authorities have also identified supply routes bringing ganja into Gujarat from Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, while cannabis-based intoxicants are allegedly being smuggled from Thailand and circulated in cities such as Surat.
Law enforcement agencies have noted that marijuana use, once largely confined to rural labour groups, is now spreading among students and young adults. Party drugs like mephedrone—also known as “meow meow”—are in rising demand in cities including Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Rajkot, often surfacing at private gatherings, media reports said.
In another development linked to international drug rackets, police recently arrested an accused involved in a Rs 13 crore ganja case from Nepal after he escaped from jail and was traced to Ahmedabad.
With repeated seizures pointing to both cross-border trafficking and local cultivation, Gujarat’s enforcement agencies say the Surat airport case may be only one part of a much larger narcotics pipeline now under investigation.
Also Read: Drugs Worth Approximately Rs 50L Seized At Ahmedabad Airport https://www.vibesofindia.com/drugs-worth-approximately-rs-50l-seized-at-ahmedabad-airport/
