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Ahmedabad - Customs officials at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad arrested a Surat resident on Tuesday, September 29, after seizing 973.23 grams of suspected hydroponic marijuana that had allegedly been concealed inside packets labelled as "Dehydrated Guava" in his cabin baggage. The passenger has been arrested under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
How the Seizure Was Made
The passenger arrived at the airport on Thai Airways flight TG-343 from Bangkok on September 29. Officers of the Air Intelligence Unit of Ahmedabad Customs intercepted him after he was flagged through passenger profiling under the Advance Passenger Information System, a system used by customs authorities to screen incoming travellers based on risk indicators before or upon arrival.
A search of the passenger's cabin baggage led officers to 30 smaller, branded sachets printed with the label "Dehydrated Guava." On opening the sachets, customs officials found a dense, greenish herbal substance rather than dried fruit. A preliminary field test, conducted using a standard Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances testing kit, indicated that the material was high-grade hydroponic marijuana. The total net weight of the seized contraband was recorded as 973.23 grams.
Following the field test result, the Air Intelligence Unit formally seized the narcotics and took the passenger into custody. He has been arrested under the provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985, and the investigation remains ongoing. Authorities have not released further details regarding the source, intended recipient, or any wider trafficking network connected to the seizure in the reports reviewed.
Part of a Recurring Pattern at Ahmedabad Airport
This seizure is the latest in a string of similar interceptions involving passengers arriving at Ahmedabad airport from Bangkok. On September 21, 2026, Customs officials arrested a Mumbai resident after allegedly recovering 8.913 kilograms of hydroponic marijuana from his baggage, also following arrival on flight TG-343 from Bangkok, with the contraband packed in ten vacuum-sealed packets.
In July 2026, a passenger arriving from Bangkok was arrested after officials allegedly found 4.2 kilograms of hydroponic marijuana concealed in 22 packets placed inside food packaging. In May 2026, officers seized 20.366 kilograms of marijuana concealed in vacuum-sealed packets inside the checked baggage of a passenger from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, who had also arrived on Thai Airways flight TG-343. Earlier seizures at the same airport included 7.7 kilograms of hydroponic cannabis from a Bangkok passenger in January, based on intelligence inputs from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, and roughly 6.2 kilograms from passengers arriving from Bangkok in December 2025. Authorities have described this as a continuing trend of narcotics smuggling attempts via Southeast Asian air routes.
The seizure and arrest fall under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, India's primary statute governing the production, possession, sale, purchase, transport and consumption of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Cannabis, defined under Section 2(iii) of the Act to include charas, ganja and any mixture or drink prepared from them, is a controlled substance under the law. Section 8 of the Act prohibits the cultivation, production, manufacture, possession, sale, purchase, transport, use or consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance except for medical or scientific purposes and in accordance with the Act's provisions.
Possession and trafficking offences under the Act are punishable under Section 20, which prescribes penalties linked to the quantity of cannabis involved, distinguishing between small quantity, quantity lesser than commercial quantity, and commercial quantity, with escalating punishment at each threshold.
Under the quantity classifications notified by the central government for ganja, possession of quantities in the range recovered in this case would ordinarily fall to be assessed under the small or intermediate quantity provisions of Section 20, which carry rigorous imprisonment terms along with fines, as distinct from the more severe penalties, including longer mandatory minimum sentences, that apply to commercial quantities. Section 42 of the Act empowers designated officers, including customs officers duly authorised under the Act, to conduct search, seizure and arrest without a warrant in specified circumstances, based on personal knowledge or information gathered regarding an offence under the Act.
Customs officers acting at international airports additionally derive authority from the Customs Act, 1962, which governs the search, seizure and examination of baggage and goods brought into India, and under which customs officials are empowered to detain and examine baggage suspected of containing prohibited or restricted goods. Cases investigated and prosecuted under the NDPS Act are tried before Special Courts designated under Section 36 of the Act, which have exclusive jurisdiction to try offences under the statute.
As of September 30, 2026, the passenger arrested in connection with the September 29 seizure remains in custody under the NDPS Act, 1985. No further details regarding ongoing investigation into the source or destination of the contraband, or links to any wider trafficking network, have been made public. The seizure adds to a continuing series of similar interceptions of hydroponic marijuana, largely linked to passengers arriving on flights from Bangkok, recorded at Ahmedabad airport over the preceding months.
