Bengaluru’s Central Crime Branch arrested four men, including two Iranian nationals, for growing and selling hydroponic ganja.[1] Police named the Iranians as 34-year-old Javad Rostampour Ghotb Aldin and 35-year-old Shir Mohammadi Barogh, both from Tehran, and the other two as Mohammed Mohsin Uz Zaman, 31, and Mohsin Khan, 30.[1] Officers picked up the four after a tip-off that they had come by car to sell drugs at Kaveri Nagar in DJ Halli.[1] Police said the two Iranians were staying illegally in the city after their visas had expired.[1] Aldin had previously been arrested once by Narcotics Control Bureau sleuths and twice by Yeshwantpur police for peddling, and he continued the racket after being granted bail.[2]

Police said they seized 12.85 kg of hydro ganja along with LSD strips, valuing the haul at Rs 1 crore.[1] Officers also recovered 13 hydroponic ganja plants and growing equipment including LED lights, heaters and temperature regulators.[3] The gang sold hydro ganja at Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per gram.[3] They sold the contraband to students, businessmen and IT professionals.[1]

The accused had ordered the seeds and equipment on the dark web and grown the crop in a rented villa in Bidadi using UV lights and LED lamps.[1] Aldin had first grown hydroponic weed on a trial basis in a fish tank at his rented house in Kammanahalli.[2] He had learned the method from a ‘Marijuana Bible’ bought on an e-commerce portal, police said.[2] Aldin had come from Tehran to Bengaluru as a 23-year-old in 2010, completed an MBA at a Banaswadi college, and feared returning to Iran because his drug use could attract the death penalty there.[2]