Chennai: Woman passenger arrested with ganja

Chennai: A woman passenger who tried to abandon a bag containing 2.5 kg ganja at Chennai airport was arrested by the airport customs early this morning.

A security team at the airport noticed an abandoned bag near the departure area. An alert was sounded and a BDS team was rushed to the scene.

After the experts said there was no explosive in the bag, a CISF team checked the bag and found small packets containing ganja, totally weighing 2.5 kg, in it.

Through CCTV footage, the personnel saw a woman leaving the bag in the area. A search resulted in the arrest of Yamala Chandra, 38, a native of Kadapa,  Andhra Pradesh.

Initially, she denied any knowledge of the bag. When the CCTV footage was shown to her, she said she abandoned the bag. She also said two men outside the airport gave the bag to her.

“Two men claimed that the bag contained life saving herbal medicines for a patient in Kuwait. I was asked to deliver the bag to him. They said the person will identify me as soon as I land there and collect it from me. They also said the man may pay me for my service.”

The woman was handed over to customs who arrested her on a charge of possessing narcotics despite her argument that she decided to abandon the bag when she became suspicious of the contents.