New Delhi: Over 5,000 kilograms of ganja or cannabis hidden in trucks carrying medicines and vegetables has been seized. Thirteen people have been arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). The NCB conducted a pan-India operation against drug traffickers officials said Wednesday. The action was undertaken over the past fortnight. NCB claimed to have busted an Andhra Pradesh-Odisha based cannabis trafficking network.
“The seizures have been made during the last week of June and the first week of July. A total of 5,477 kgs of ganja has been seized in five cases from four states. Many arrests have been made,” NCB deputy director (Operations) KPS Malhotra said in a statement.
“A total of 13 people have been arrested by various zones of the agency. They have been nabbed under the provision of the Narcotics Control and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act,” he added.
Malhotra said the drug trafficking was done using the cover of trucks and vehicles carrying medicines and vegetables. “The narcotic was found concealed in special cavities created in trucks or other small vehicles that were intercepted, he informed.
The official said the agency has launched a ‘systematic investigation’ in these cases. They are laying special focus on the financial trail of the network.
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Linkages are also being explored regarding the proceeds possibly going to the Naxal violence-affected areas, Malhotra said. Agency officials said it has been noticed that illicit ganja cultivation often takes place in areas prone to insurgency or extremism. It is currently the harvest season of cannabis which acts as a short term cash crop for narco-traffickers. Cannabis leaves are smoked and it brings a heightened state of alert in the user.
Illegal ganja or cannabis cultivation in India is largely concentrated around the Naxal-affected border areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Cannabis from this region finds its way to states like Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Cannabis is also smuggled to Sri Lanka, the NCB said.