Thane Crime: Two held for growing weed at their Palava flat

Arshad Khatri. He was an expert in growing weed hydroponically

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Thursday night seized 350 gm of hydroponic marijuana from a 2BHK flat in Palava City, Dombivli, and arrested two people who were cultivating it using the hydroponics method. They had sourced the seeds from Amsterdam using darknet, officers said on Friday.

Marijuana seized by the NCB

A single seed costs $10 to $15, but they paid Rs 15,000 as they bought it from the black market, they said, adding that the seized marijuana, also called weed, is worth about Rs 50-Rs 80 lakh.

The accused, identified as Javed Jahangir Shaikh and Arshad Khatri, were cultivating hydroponic weed for the past one year. While Khatri was an expert in growing hydroponic weed, Shaikh dealt with the supply of their product.

An NCB officer told mid-day, "The accused, during interrogation, told us that one Rehan Khan, who lives in Saudi Arabia, was financially supporting the cultivation."

Containers used to grow the drug

Sameer Wankhede, zonal director of NCB Mumbai, told mid-day, "This is the first raid in the country related to hydroponic weed cultivation. Earlier, it was smuggled, but the COVID-19 lockdown had put a stop to it. So, these people started cultivating it by buying the seeds from abroad using darknet."

Explaining about the hydroponics method used by the duo, officers said they used water as the growing medium, grow lights for photosynthesis and to ensure an ideal temperature is maintained, they kept the AC running all the time. They had windows with black glass to prevent sunlight from entering the house. The weed is ready for cultivation in about three-four months using this technique.

Javed Jahangir Shaikh handled the supply of their product

The NCB seized the entire cultivation set-up from the flat that included pH regulators, plant nutrients, clay pebbles, water pumps, air circulation systems, oxygen gas cylinders that were used to maintain oxygen-carbon dioxide level, photosynthesis lighting systems, etc. The price of 1 gram of hydroponic weed is Rs 8,000-Rs 10,000.

Rs 50-80L
Value of the seized drug