Ahmedabad: The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport has recorded multiple cases of narcotics smuggling in recent months. To help enforcement agencies curb drug trafficking, five advanced baggage scanners have been installed at key points across the terminal.

The new machines are placed near immigration, conveyor belts, the customs counter, and the Air Intelligence Unit. They are designed to swiftly detect metal objects and suspicious items. Passengers’ handbags and purses are scanned, with alerts instantly sent to officers if anomalies are detected. Officials say the system will also help crack gold smuggling attempts, where carriers often travel to Dubai with foreign currency and return with gold illegally.

The move follows seizures of nearly 300 kg of hybrid ganja worth ₹300 crore in just four months, which officials now consider a bigger threat than the recent surge in gold smuggling.

In a related development, Customs officials seized gold worth ₹36.59 lakh concealed inside 82 screws of a trolley bag from a passenger arriving on SpiceJet’s Dubai–Ahmedabad flight on Friday. Acting on a tip-off, officers intercepted the passenger and, after scanning his luggage, discovered the screws coated in silver. When scraped and melted, they yielded 353 grams of 24-carat gold. DeshGujarat