On February 7, airport officials called back a Singapore-bound flight minutes after it took off from Coimbatore in the wee hours and seized 25 kilograms of "narcotic powder" from a passenger.

The SilkAir flight, which took off around 1am was asked to return to the airport following an alert message from Central Revenue Intelligence about the possible smuggling of narcotics by a passenger, the sources said.

As the plane returned to the airport within 30 minutes, the officials nabbed the person, identified as Ismail, and found 25kg of "narcotic powder" in his baggage, they said.

The passenger had allegedly declared it as soap powder during the security scan.

Meanwhile, airport officials said it was surprising to note that the passenger escaped the security scanners before boarding the aircraft.