CHENNAI: Customs officials seized the first quality ganja worth over Rs 7 crore at the Chennai airport on Sunday, after a sniffer dog detected the contraband.

The Customs team received a tip-off that ganja was being smuggled in huge quantities from Bangkok. Following that, officers were on constant vigil, and monitoring passengers arriving from Thailand.

A sniffer dog, which was also in the patrol team, found something suspicious in a carton box which a passenger was carrying. It followed the passenger and alerted the officers. Soon, officers intercepted the passenger and while questioning, he reportedly said that the box contained chocolates and some frozen meat. He also told them that the dog might have followed him for the meat inside the box.

Officers were not convinced with his reply and opened the box and found that it had first-grade ganja that weighed around 7.6 kg worth over Rs 7 crore. They arrested the passenger and found that he was sent as a Kuruvi by a smuggling gang in Chennai. Further investigations are on to nab the gang behind the smuggling racket.