Bengaluru: Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) has emerged as a major interception point for narcotics trafficking, with customs officials seizing 858kg of hydroponic weed and registering 117 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in the current financial year up to Feb 13. A majority of cases were linked to flights originating from Bangkok, according to data accessed by TOI.Of the total cases, 114 involved hydroponic weed (ganja), leading to 133 arrests. Most of the seizures were in the intermediate quantity category (1kg to 20kg), indicating repeated mid-sized consignments rather than isolated bulk smuggling attempts.Six commercial-quantity seizures exceeded 20kg, including the largest — 92.8kg — seized on Oct 14 from a Sri Lankan family of four. Among the accused, two were Thai nationals and four Sri Lankan; the rest were Indian nationals.Intermediate-quantity cases often led to quick bail, enabling repeat offences, said a customs official on the condition of anonymity. “The ganja is stored in 0.5kg air-tight packets and kept concealed, which makes it difficult even for the dog squad to identify it,” the official added.Sources in the customs department also said almost all flights involved in these cases originated from Bangkok, barring a few transit routes through the Gulf countries and Sri Lanka. “Investigators believe traffickers may be exploiting the popularity of the Bangkok-Bengaluru travel corridor to mask courier movement,” a source elaborated.Alongside cannabis, the authorities intercepted two significant cocaine consignments of 9.4kg, including 4.4kg of ‘black cocaine’— a chemically treated form designed to evade standard detection methods. The accused in these cases were foreign nationals arriving from African and South American sectors. Officials noted that concealment techniques for narcotics have become increasingly sophisticated, often disguised within consumable goods or chemically altered.In another case, a 40-year-old woman passenger arriving from Bangkok was arrested with 1.7kg of hashish, underscoring continued attempts to diversify cannabis-based smuggling.Overall, the data points to a clear pattern: frequent mid-volume cannabis consignments routed primarily through Bangkok, along with occasional high-value cocaine trafficking attempts using advanced concealment. With Bengaluru’s growing international connectivity and expanding urban consumer base, enforcement agencies are intensifying profiling, surveillance, and intelligence coordination efforts to curb narcotics inflow.What is hydroponic weed?Cannabis grown using water or media-based systems such as sand, gravel, or coco coir, with liquid nutrients instead of soil. Hydroponic cannabis gardens are considered more efficient than traditional soil-based gardens, as the open-root system allows for direct uptake of nutrients and oxygen.Weed smuggling in numbersCases booked — 114Persons arrested — 133Quantity seized — 858kg— Source: Bengaluru customs | Data for 2025-26, till Feb 13
