Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized a large quantity of marijuana (Ganja) at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar, foiling an international drug smuggling attempt, official sources said on Wednesday.

Acting on specific intelligence inputs, officials intercepted a passenger arriving from Bangkok and recovered around 3.93 kilograms of cannabis from his baggage.

During inspection, the DRI team found four packets of marijuana, carefully wrapped in black polythene and concealed inside chocolate boxes placed in the passenger’s bag. Officials said the novel method was deliberately chosen to mislead airport scanning systems and avoid detection.

The seized contraband is estimated to be worth around Rs 4 crore in the illegal market.

The accused passenger has been taken into custody, and further investigation is underway to identify possible links to a larger drug trafficking network and determine whether more people are involved in the illegal operation.“On the basis of specific intelligence, officers of DRI intercepted an Indian passenger arriving from Bangkok at Bhubaneswar airport. During the systematic search of the passenger’s baggage, a total of 4 (four) packets containing a greenish, lumpy substance were recovered. Out of the four packets, 2 (two) packets wrapped with black colour polythene cover had been concealed inside cardboard packages of chocolate packets, preventing their detection by the scanning machine,” a DRI press release read.

“The remaining 2 (two) packets were found secreted within the false bottom of the carry-on luggage. These packets had been concealed by converting the suspected contraband into paste form and hydraulically pressing it to enable seamless placement within the false compartment. The false bottom was subsequently raised open, leading to the recovery of the suspected contraband,” the official press release stated.

“On testing, the substance gave a positive result for cannabis and a total of 3.93 Kg of the hydroponic weed valued at approximately Rs 3.93 Crore (IMV) was recovered from the baggage and has been seized. The passenger has been arrested under the provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985. Further investigation is in progress,” the DRI added.