Former Mrs Kerala Contestant Arrested at Mumbai Airport for Smuggling Cannabis Worth ₹11.82 Crore
Harsha Sunny, a 28 or 29-year-old model and former Mrs Kerala pageant contestant, was arrested at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport after customs officials allegedly found 11.8 kg of hydroponic cannabis concealed in her trolley bag following her arrival from Bangkok. She was intercepted by the Air Intelligence Unit on the night of June 10–11 after officials found her behaviour suspicious, and a field test confirmed the green substance as high-grade marijuana valued at Rs 11.82 crore. Sunny has been remanded to judicial custody while investigators probe potential links to a larger drug trafficking network.
Harsha Sunny, a model and runner-up in the Mrs Kerala 2025 beauty pageant who also works as a relationship manager at a private bank, was arrested at Mumbai airport after customs officials allegedly recovered 12 vacuum-sealed packets of hydroponic cannabis from her trolley bag. She had arrived on Air India flight TG-351 from Bangkok on the intervening night of June 10–11, and was flagged by the Air Intelligence Unit based on both behavioural suspicion and passenger profiling. An on-the-spot NDPS field test confirmed the substance as high-quality hydroponic marijuana, with an estimated illicit market value of Rs 11.82 crore. Sunny was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and produced before the NDPS court, which remanded her to judicial custody. In her defence, Sunny claimed she was unaware of the bag's contents, stating that a person she befriended during her Bangkok trip persuaded her to carry the bag to India. Her lawyer, Advocate Prabhakar Tripathi, described the case as a possible instance of an unsuspecting traveller being exploited by organised traffickers. Investigators are now working to identify other individuals linked to the alleged smuggling network and to trace the consignment's intended destination.
What's missing
The sources report conflicting details about Sunny's age — NDTV states 28 while Moneycontrol and Hindustan Times state 29 — and do not clarify which is accurate.
How coverage differed
NDTV framed the story primarily around Sunny's identity as a beauty pageant contestant and described her arrest in straightforward terms, while Moneycontrol gave more prominent coverage to her defence claim of innocence and her lawyer's statement, lending slightly more weight to the possibility she was an unwitting carrier. Hindustan Times added broader context by noting a separate, similar hydroponic cannabis smuggling arrest near the India-Nepal border the same week.
What different sources said
- Hindustan TimesCenter
Flew from Bangkok with drugs worth ₹12 crore, arrested in Mumbai: How a beauty contest runner-up was caught | India News
- Moneycontrol.comCenter
Model Harsha Sunny arrested at Mumbai airport for allegedly smuggling Hydroponic weed worth Rs 11.82 Crore
- NDTVCenter
Ex-Mrs Kerala Contestant Arrested For Smuggling Weed Worth Rs 11.82 Crore
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