Beauty contest runner-up Harsha Sunny arrested for allegedly smuggling hydroponic weed worth ₹11.8 cr: Details
A 29-year-old woman, an employee of a private bank and runner-up in a beauty contest, was arrested at Mumbai Airport for allegedly smuggling drugs into
A 29-year-old woman, an employee of a private bank and runner-up in a beauty contest, was arrested at Mumbai Airport for allegedly smuggling drugs into India from Bangkok. The woman, who has been identified as Harsha Sunny, was reportedly carrying 11.8 kg of hydroponic weed valued at ₹11.8 crore. She landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in the early hours of Thursday, an official said. The accused works as a relationship manager with a private bank and was a contestant in a beauty pageant held in Kerala in 2025, the official added. Customs officials allegedly found 12 packets of hydroponic weed concealed in her trolley bag. Sunny stated that a person befriended her during her Bangkok trip and asked her to carry the bag to India. She was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and produced before a court, which remanded her to judicial custody, the official said, adding that a probe is currently underway to identify other people linked to the drug network.
Smuggling cases on the rise? Sunny's arrest is part of a broader trend that has seen Indian airports emerge as key interception points for international drug-trafficking networks. On Thursday, news agency PTI reported that DRI officials seized five kg of crystal methamphetamine, valued at approximately ₹5 crore in the international market, from a Malaysia-bound passenger at Chennai International Airport. The passenger, identified as Sivayogeswaran Rajkumar, a resident of Batlagundu in Dindigul district, was detained at Terminal 2 of the airport on Wednesday night just before boarding an IndiGo flight (6E 1031) bound for Kuala Lumpur, officials said on Thursday. Also Read | Mumbai Airport customs rolls up major Hydroponic weed haul worth ₹33 crore Ranya Rao gold smuggling case In 2025, Kannada actress Ranya Rao was arrested in a gold smuggling case. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials intercepted Harshavardhini Ranya alias Ranya Rao, the stepdaughter of DGP-rank (suspended) police officer Ramachandra Rao, at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, on March 2, 2025, after she allegedly carried out 27 trips to Dubai since January 2025.
Customs officials seized 14.213 kg of smuggled gold bars directly from her and later found cash and jewellery worth over ₹2 crore at her residence. She was accused of smuggling gold worth ₹102 crore. Her associate, Tarun Konduru Raju alias Virat Konduru, a 36-year-old US citizen, was arrested six days later for allegedly helping in the smuggling operation. A third accused, Sahil Sakariya Jain (27), a jeweller from Ballari, was arrested on March 26 for allegedly helping dispose of the smuggled gold and facilitating hawala transactions. According to The Hindu, investigations later indicated that the trio were part of a larger syndicate that smuggled over 100 kg of gold into the country between 2024 and 2025. Officials claimed Konduru facilitated the international movement of gold via Dubai, while Jain handled its disposal within India. Although she had earlier secured bail from the special court for economic offences, her release was blocked by detention under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA).
The BriefWire