Pune: In the biggest seizure of high-end hydroponic weed at Pune airport so far, the air intelligence unit (AIU) of Pune Customs has arrested five people and recovered more than 8kg of the drug, valued at Rs 8.71 crore, from their possession.Officials said four passengers had landed in Pune from Bangkok on an IndiGo flight, while another person was waiting near the arrival area to receive them.“All those arrested are men aged between 21 and 30 years. While the four who were carrying the weed are from Jharkhand, the one who appears to be the handler and was waiting for them in the arrival area is from Ratnagiri district,” a senior customs officer told TOI.Earlier, on Feb 11, Customs officers had seized weed worth Rs 5.4 crore at Pune airport. The person arrested in that case had arrived on an Air India Express flight from Bangkok. The drug was recovered wrapped in carbon paper and neatly packed inside five toy boxes.“In this case, the weed had been concealed inside boxes of chocolates. In total, there were 16 airtight sealed packets containing the drug, which were recovered from their handbags. Each of them was carrying more than 2kg of weed,” the official added.Officers stated that investigations and interrogations are underway. The men have claimed that they were called to Bangkok on the promise of employment.“They were allegedly promised jobs, but once they reached there, they were told the opportunity had vanished. While returning, they were given chocolate boxes. We are investigating the case from different angles. Further interrogations will reveal more details and the truth behind their claims,” the official said.So far this year, there have been frequent cases of attempted smuggling of high-end weed at Pune airport. On March 3, the Customs team had recovered weed worth Rs 74.5 lakh from the lavatory of an Air India Express flight that had arrived from Bangkok.
