Kerala fast turning into hub for hybrid ganja smuggling

KOCHI: Thanks to the Union governments decision to reduce the import duty on gold from 15% to 6%, gold smuggling through airports has seen a steep decline. However, Kerala is witnessing a spike in the smuggling of another contraband: hybrid ganja. From nil in 2022-23, 89.11 kg of hybrid ganja was confiscated in 2024-25 from airports in the state. This jumped to 129.68 kg in the first seven months of the current year. There has been a decline in gold smuggling, but the bigger concern for Kerala is the smuggling of drugs. Earlier, a state in the Northeast was infamous for drug consumption. But the picture has changed and Kerala is fast turning into a hub for consumption and transaction of hybrid or hydroponic ganja. Hydroponic ganja is the weed grown in lab conditions without soil. Its narcotic content is more than 40%. It comes mainly from Thailand. Every week we report two or three seizures at airports in the state, Chief Commissioner of Customs and Central GST (Kerala and Lakshadweep) Shaik Khader Rahman told TNIE. He said detections are only the tip of the iceberg and the actual volume of weed smuggled into the state could be much larger. We can only estimate volumes by analysing published data. The value of 1kg of hydroponic ganja in the international market is around `1 crore. Other major airports like Mumbai have also reported a spike in the smuggling of hydroponic ganja. As most of the ganja originates from Thailand, we have started checking flights from that country thoroughly. Now smugglers have changed their modus operandi. In some cases smugglers fly in from Dubai, said Rahman. Kerala: Hybrid weed smuggling outpaces gold after customs duty reduction Customs to introduce sniffer dogs to check baggage Considering the increase in volumes of hybrid ganja being smuggled into the state, the customs department has decided to introduce sniffer dogs to check baggage. Kochi airport already has two canines and the customs department has requested the Customs K9 establishment, under the Directorate of Logistics, to provide eight more dogs. We have forwarded the request and expect deployment of the dog squad within two months. We are planning deployment of two dogs each along with handlers to Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Kozhikode and Kochi airports, he said. We are eyeing the labrador, German shepherd and cocker spaniel breeds for the purpose.