By Trinath Mohanty, OP
Bhubaneswar: The Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here appears to have become a transit point for drug traffickers. While smugglers continue to use flights from Bangkok to transport narcotics, some manage to evade detection, while others are caught by Customs and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
In the latest seizure, Customs and DRI officials jointly recovered 5.291 kg of hydroponic cannabis, estimated to be worth Rs 1.85 crore in the illicit market, from the baggage of four passengers who arrived at BPIA Saturday.
The four passengers, who had travelled from Bangkok, have been detained and are being questioned. According to Customs and DRI sources, a flight from Bangkok landed at BPIA Saturday morning. Acting on prior intelligence, a joint team of Customs and DRI officials intercepted the passengers and searched their baggage.
The luggage was scanned, and a sniffer dog was deployed to assist the operation. The contraband had been cleverly concealed inside packets of dog food. The dog detected the suspicious packets, leading officials to uncover the cannabis.
This is not the first such seizure at the airport. Several consignments of cannabis have been intercepted in similar op erations this year. Officials seized 11 kg of cannabis and arrested two accused July 8 in connection with the case.
Earlier, May 12, the DRI seized another 11 kg of cannabis from the airport and arrested two passengers from Tamil Nadu.