The man, around 32 years old and hailing from Mumbai, landed in Pune from Bangkok on an Air India Express flight (IX-241). The flight took off from Bangkok around 2.26pm IST and landed in Pune around 4.50pm. “Earlier, we arrested many people trying to smuggle in contraband, but this is the first case in which such a large quantity was recovered from a single person. The man seems to be a willful carrier and was stopped by authorities based on intelligence inputs and profiling. The man and his accomplices cleverly concealed the contraband in the checked-in bag,” an official told TOI. This was the first big catch of this year, officials confirmed. The weed, which was in many small packets, was neatly wrapped in carbon paper and put inside five boxes of toys, giving the impression that the man was carrying toys as gifts from Bangkok. “A search of his check-in luggage bag revealed the presence of hydroponic weed, or high-grade marijuana. The contraband was seized, and the passenger was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. Further investigation is under progress,” the official said. Willful carriers are those who are fully aware that they are trying to smuggle drugs, gold or contraband into the country via different ways of concealment. At the time when attempts to smuggle gold were high at Pune airport, there used to be unwilling carriers as well, who had no clue that their bags contained gold. At present, there are five international flights from Pune, including two to Bangkok, two to Dubai, and one to Abu Dhabi. Since last year, hydroponic weed elbowed out gold smuggling through Pune airport, data shared by the Customs authorities showed. In 2025, authorities cracked 15 cases and arrested 16 people for attempted smuggling at the airport. Of these, 12 arrests were linked to narcotics trafficking. In 2025, no attempts were made to smuggle gold from Pune. When it comes to weed, Customs intercepted over 40kg of the same, estimated to cost over Rs40 crore, last year. “Hydroponic weed is grown indoors, and being superior in nature, its cost is very high compared to the ordinary variety. Pune is a big market considering the presence of a large number of youths and educational institutions,” a Customs official had told TOI earlier.
