4 passengers held with drones, drugs and exotic animals at Mumbai airport

The Customs department has seized seven drones, suspected hydroponic weed of Rs 4 crore and smuggled exotic animals at Mumbai airport and arrested four passengers who arrived from Bangkok and Colombo, officials said.

It intercepted a passenger carrying seven drones, valued at Rs 32.19 lakh, which were concealed inside a trolley bag. The passenger, who came from Colombo, was subsequently arrested, an official said.

In two other separate cases, the Customs sleuths seized suspected hydroponic weed (marijuana), collectively weighing 3.8 kg and valued at around Rs 4 crore in the illicit market, from two passengers who arrived here from Bangkok, the official said.

In another case, the Customs officials recovered exotic animals, including iguanas (19), orange bearded dragons (10), raccoon (1 dead), quince monitor lizard (1 alive), squirrel (2 critical, 1 dead) and Central American squirrel monkey (2 dead), he said.

The wildlife species were concealed inside a trolley bag carried by a passenger, also from Bangkok, who was placed under arrest, the official said.