Five Indians arrested at airport in China for allegedly smuggling 18 kg of cannabis

Beijing: Five Indians have been arrested by Chinese immigration officials at an airport in Yunnan province for allegedly smuggling about 18 kg of cannabis from India. [caption id=“attachment_3002242” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] The five accused who had kept cannabis in food packets and laptop bags were held at Kunming airport after they came from Kolkata on 7 September, officials said. The drug packets were discovered by the scanners at the airport. Their arrests have been notified to Indian officials and they have been granted counsellor access on 21 September, the officials said. Currently, seven Indians are held in prisons at Guangxi and Guangzhou on drug smuggling charges. Drug smuggling in China is treated as a serious offence and in some cases the crime attracts death penalty or long prison terms. In July, a Colombian model was sentenced to 15 years in jail for drug smuggling in China.