Mumbai, February 18 The smuggling of hydroponic cannabis or marijuana has emerged as "one of the biggest threats" at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in 2025-26, with Thailand being a major source of the contraband, officials said on Wednesday.
Between April 2025 and January 2026, as many as 200 cases of smuggling of hydroponic cannabis – cannabis grown using a soil-less method – were registered by the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) teams at the airport, and over 1,101 kg of cannabis was seized, they said.
Furthermore, there was a sharp increase in the overall registration of cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act during this period, according to data issued by the AIU for the years 2024-25 and 2025-26.
Customs has registered 207 NDPS cases until January this year, compared to 57 cases in the previous year.
According to the release, 5.09 kg of cocaine valued at Rs 50.9 crore had been seized in 2024-25 with the arrest of five people. In 2025-26, as much as 11.6 kg of cocaine, almost double the quantity, valued at Rs 116.26 crore was seized as of January.
Drug syndicates in India, in connivance with agents in Bangkok, choose "mules" to carry drugs to India, the release said.
The mules are offered free flight tickets and hotel accommodation in Bangkok, plus a "small amount to carry packages on their return flight," it said.
The syndicates were found to have shifted to "low-risk" carriers, including families with children and senior citizens up to 61 years, as these travelers are less likely to be intercepted.
Women mules were used in about 25 percent of the cases.
Drug syndicates also use fake diplomatic pouches of the Ministry of External Affairs to smuggle illegal consignments, the release added.
Packages of chips, shampoo bottles, and even vegetables were used for concealing contraband in some cases.
To smuggle drugs like cocaine, traffickers resorted to dangerous methods such as ingesting drug-filled capsules. Foreign nationals, particularly from African and South American countries, are often recruited as carriers to smuggle cocaine, the release said.
In one case, a 61-year-old Ugandan woman was found to have swallowed 80 capsules containing 866 grams of cocaine.
In another case, an airline crew member was caught smuggling 5.194 kg of cocaine.
The Mumbai Airport Commissionerate also carried out the destruction of over 415 kg of seized narcotics with a market value of Rs 486 crore in 2025-26, the release said.