Drugs, saffron, iPhones worth ₹7 cr seized at Ahmedabad airport within span of 4 hrs

Is  Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad becoming a hub for smugglers? In the latest seizure by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, two travellers were caught trying to smuggle in illegal goods into the city, within just four hours on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.

In the first incident, based on a tip-off DRI had set up a watch for a woman trying to smuggle in drugs. The woman, travelling from Thailand, landed at 11.30 pm on Wednesday. Upon checking, she was found to be carrying 6.5 kg of ganja, worth ₹6.5 crore.

Another man travelling from Abu Dhabi was caught smuggling Apple products. The Etihad Airlines traveller was nabbed with 9.5 kg of saffron, 15 iPhone Pro and 4 iWatches, worth ₹24 lakh. 

This translates to a total seizure worth ₹7 crore by the authorities in a matter of hours.

Meanwhile, smuggling incidents have been on the rise tat Ahmedabad airport. 

Authorities at the airport seized ₹150 crore worth of hybrid ganja in just one month during April-May 2025. The Customs and DRI teams arrested 15 peddlers in six separate cases, with all suspects hailing from outside Gujarat.

Intelligence agencies have since launched extensive profiling of these peddlers, gathering information on their movements and associates. Senior officials said this profiling would enable surveillance of suspected traffickers not only within India but also during their overseas trips.

Apart from smuggling drugs and highly taxed goods, gold smuggling has also been rampant. From January to May, six gold smuggling cases were detected at Ahmedabad airport.