Shubham Rathod, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was caught at Kempegowda International Airport on 15 September after arriving from Bangkok with 16 kg of hydroponic ganja, valued at Rs 5.60 crore, concealed in his check-in baggage.[1] A day earlier, on 14 September, another passenger, Abdul Lateef, was caught smuggling 11.96 kg of hydroponic ganja worth Rs 4.19 crore.[1] The third case was intercepted on 12 September, when two passengers arriving from Bangkok were found carrying 990 grams of ganja concealed in duty-free bags.[1] The contraband was valued at Rs 34.65 lakh, a senior customs official said.[1]

All four accused were arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.[1] Customs officials at Kempegowda International Airport intercepted the three cases in the past four days, seizing 28.95 kg of the contraband valued at more than Rs 10 crore.[1] The 16-kg seizure was the largest of the three cases.[1]