Kochi Customs arrested a Kakkanad man after a parcel of hydroponic ganja, also called hybrid ganja, arrived from Thailand through the International Post Office in Kochi.[1] On 18 February 2025 officers visited the Postal Appraising Section, examined the parcel and seized the cannabis.[1] The parcel also contained cornflakes and chocolates, and the ganja was hidden inside the cornflakes packets.[2] Officers found 1.04 kg of hybrid ganja, which Customs called the largest drug seizure at the International Post Office in recent years, and valued it at Rs 1.04 crore.[2]

Officers of the Headquarters Preventive Unit of the Commissionerate of Customs (Preventive), Kochi, made the arrest.[1] Samples were drawn in the presence of a judicial magistrate and the cannabis was deposited at the Customs warehouse.[1] The receiver was not identified at first, so a team of the Headquarters Preventive Unit worked with the Customs Postal Section and the Department of Posts and sent a dummy parcel through normal delivery.[1] The address the receiver gave was fake, so officers kept watch at locations he had mentioned.[1]

On 20 February 2025, while a postman was delivering the parcel, Customs officers located the receiver’s home and arrested him.[1] A search of the house found about 30 g of hydroponic weed and 50 g of ganja, bringing the cannabis found in the case to about 1.12 kg.[1] His mobile phone held what officers called evidence of distribution chains and possible supply networks.[1]

Customs said the man confessed, and he was produced before the Judicial Magistrate Court, Ernakulam, and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.[1] Customs said it was also examining the involvement of other people in the case.[2]