Malaysian held at Chennai airport with 4 kg of hydroponic cannabis
Indian Customs detained a 54-year-old Malaysian man from Perak at Chennai International Airport after he arrived from Bangkok with 4 kg of hydroponic cannabis concealed in his luggage. Malaysian police say the supply came from Thailand and they are checking whether he was a recruited drug mule or part of a syndicate.
🇮🇳 Chennai International Airport, Chennai, Tamil Nadu · India
Chennai Customs officers detained a 54-year-old Malaysian man from Perak at
Chennai International Airport on Saturday 8 August 2026, after finding 4 kg of
hydroponic cannabis in his luggage.[1][2]He had arrived from Bangkok on Thai
Airways flight TG 337, and Chennai Customs officers found the cannabis concealed
inside his baggage in a thorough inspection.[1][2]
Indian Customs held him in remand for further investigation and he faces
investigation under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act
1985 pending trial.[1]Under that law, trafficking or possession of drugs in
commercial quantities carries a mandatory prison sentence of between 10 and 20
years and a substantial fine on conviction.[1]
Bukit Aman Narcotics Crime Investigation Department director Comm Datuk Hussein
Omar Khan said Malaysian police obtained detailed information about the man,
including his identity and flight schedule, and believe he got the supply in
Thailand because he carried it from Bangkok.[1]Hussein said police would
monitor whether the man was linked to a syndicate in Malaysia or was recruited
as a drug mule in Thailand or Malaysia.[1]Initial checks showed the man had
no previous criminal record, and Malaysian police received official information
on the arrest from India’s Narcotics Control Bureau.[1][2]
The suspect was believed to have tried to leave through the Green Channel without declaring anything to customs.[2]An X-ray scan showed a suspicious image in his checked baggage, which was then examined in detail.[2]The inspection found four packages of greenish lumpy material with a strong, pungent smell.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The article gives the detention as 'last Saturday' and is dated 11 August 2026, so 8 August 2026 is used for the incident date.
No value for the 4 kg haul was published.
The man is not named in the article.
No court hearing or outcome has been reported; he was in Indian Customs remand.
Malaysian police did not say whether he was a mule or a syndicate member; that question remained open.
The article repeats the Narcotics Crime Investigation Department director's media briefing in Shah Alam on 11 August 2026 and reproduces the same account as the English-language report already cited, so it is not an independent investigation.
The distance from Bangkok and the flight are given for the suspect; the article does not say where in Thailand the cannabis was bought or by whom.
The 4 kg is described as hydroponic cannabis ('ganja hidroponik'); the article gives no laboratory confirmation of the substance or of the cultivation method.
Kangra district police's CIA team arrested two men from Chamba district with 1.107 kg of charas in the Sokru Dam area of Baijnath. A case was registered under the NDPS Act at Baijnath police station, and police said they were questioning the men about the source of the charas and where it was to be supplied.
Police in Sirari bazaar in Bihar's Sheikhpura district seized 150 grams of ganja from a paan stall and arrested Doman Singh, also known as Prabhakar Singh. The stall stands on Purana Station Road within 500 metres of an educational institution, and the station chief said an FIR was registered under the NDPS Act.
Bandipora police arrested two men travelling on a scooty at Gunchipora near Bakshi Bund on 11 November 2026 and recovered 914 grams of a suspected cannabis powder-like substance from them. Police registered FIR No. 244/2026 at Police Station Sumbal under the NDPS Act and said they were investigating the source of the contraband and its supply links.
Police in Station Ghanpur, Jangaon district, Telangana, arrested four men accused of selling dried ganja, including the man who bought some, and seized 40 grams of the drug, a mobile phone and 1,000 rupees in cash. Circle Inspector S. Srinivas said a case was registered against the four and they were remanded to judicial custody.
