Kerala Police Recover 18 kg Of Hybrid Cannabis

Malappuram: In a major drug haul the Kerala Police have seized 18 kg of hybrid cannabis smuggled from Abu Dhabi at Calicut airport. The seized contraband is estimated to be worth Rs 9 crores in the international market.

The Police have arrested two individuals hailing from Mattannur and Thalassery in Kannur district who had come to receive the consignment. However, the passenger who smuggled the drugs managed to escape.

The 18 kg contraband was concealed in 14 vacuum sealed packets that were found in the large trolley bag of a passenger arriving by an Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi at around 8:00 pm on Monday.

The two individuals apprehended at the airport were identified as Printijil (35) who is a resident of Mattannur and Roshan R Babu (33) of Thalassery.

Initially they claimed that they had come to the airport merely to wander around and take some photographs. However, during a sustained interrogation they spilled the details about the smuggling operation.

The Police have recovered the photographs and other details of the passenger who arrived at Calicut from Bangkok via Abu Dhabi from Roshan's phone.

Further investigations revealed that the passenger had left the airport in a taxi but soon sensed a danger of being nabbed. Asking the taxi driver to stop the vehicle, the accused fled on the pretext of going out for a smoke. He abandoned his luggage and handbag in the car while fleeing on foot. It was during the examination of his luggage that the contraband was recovered.

Hybrid cannabis produced through hydroponic cultivation is known to be significantly more potent than regular cannabis. It commands a price ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000 per gram in the domestic market.