Delhi Police Bust International Drug Racket, Arrest Ex-Customs Officer With Rs. 27 Crore ‘Hydroponic Marijuana’:

Delhi Police Bust International Drug Racket, Arrest Ex-Customs Officer With Rs. 27 Crore ‘Hydroponic Marijuana’ Delhi Police have exposed an international drug gang that was running operations in India, Thailand, and the UAE. They arrested a former Customs officer who had been fired from his job and seized over 21 kilograms of high-quality “hydroponic marijuana”. The drugs are worth about Rs. 27 crore in the market. This was announced by officials on Wednesday, October 29, 2025. He further added, 'A former inspector (Rohit Kumar Sharma) with the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) was arrested during a late-night operation in Janakpuri in South-West Delhi.'

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Deputy Commissioner of Police Crime Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said that police have seized Rs. 44.42 lakh in cash, which was allegedly proceeds from drug sales, along with an XUV and a scooter from his profession. The team also laid a trap near Janak Cinema on the intervening night of October 13 and 14 and intercepted Sharma, who was delivering a major consignment of "ocean-grown weed", also known as hydroponic marijuana. A police statement said, “A total of 21,512 kg of the substance was seized from him, and at his instance. ‘Hydroponic marijuana’ is a rare, high-end variant cultivated using scientific methods and has a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content 10 times higher than regular cannabis. It is popular among affluent users and party circles and is usually imported from Thailand through international courier routes.”

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Sharma has a B.Tech degree in Electronic Engineering and had joined the Central Excise Department in 2015. But, He was arrested in 2019 for being involved in a gold smuggling case while working at Kannur Airport in Kerala. Later, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) also charged him under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act. The DCP added that he was dismissed from service in 2023 after a departmental inquiry. After which he shifted to Dubai, where he allegedly came into contact with Abhishek (from Bihar, India) and two others to import hydroponic marijuana from Thailand into India.

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The officer said that the accused used his connections in the Customs Department to help with smuggling through less busy airports like Guwahati. The money earned from selling drugs was reportedly sent to Dubai through illegal money transfer methods (hawala) and cryptocurrency. The police said they are still investigating to find out who else was involved in the case.