17 kg of hybrid ganja, smuggled through Calicut Airport, seized

Kozhikode (Kerala) | Seventeen kilograms of hybrid ganja attempted to be smuggled through the Calicut International Airport here from Abu Dhabi were seized, and two persons were arrested in this regard, police said on Tuesday.

The arrested persons are those who allegedly came to collect the contraband from a passenger.

The contraband was seized from the trolley bag of the passenger, who went out of the airport in a taxi and managed to escape from the vehicle later on Monday night, they said.

A manhunt is on to nab the accused, who fled, abandoning his baggage after knowing that police were following him, Karipur Police said.

Police officers at the airport became suspicious of the two men's behaviour, who claimed they were there to tour the airport and take pictures. This suspicion led to the discovery of drug smuggling.

During a detailed interrogation, the men confessed to the police that they arrived at the airport to collect hybrid ganja from a passenger who came from Abu Dhabi.

"An intelligence squad of state police is there on the airport premises. They grew suspicious after noticing the duo's strange mannerisms and behaviour. Thus, we questioned them and got details of the passenger who smuggled drugs," a senior police officer said.

From their phone, the police received pictures and other information about the passenger who arrived in Calicut from Bangkok via Abu Dhabi.

Subsequent investigation revealed that the passenger had left the premises in an airport taxi.

Though the police called the taxi driver over the phone and asked him to stop the vehicle, the passenger got out and fled under the pretext of smoking, police added.

A total of 17 kilograms of hybrid ganja were found kept in 14 vacuum packets in his trolley bag, and it may be worth crores of rupees in the drug market, he added.

"The men who came to collect the drugs from the passenger were arrested. They were identified as Rijil (35) and Roshan R Babu (33), both hailing from neighbouring Kannur district," he said.

They were arrested under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the officer said, adding that they would be produced before a court here later in the day.

An investigation is being intensified to nab the passenger who left his luggage and handbag in the car and fled, the officer added.