NCB seizes 5,477 kg cannabis, arrests 13 after country-wide ops

Over 5,000 kilograms of ganja or cannabis hidden in trucks carrying medicines and vegetables has been seized and 13 people arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) after it conducted a pan-India operation against drug traffickers, officials said on Wednesday.

Over 5,000 kilograms of ganja or cannabis hidden in trucks carrying medicines and vegetables has been seized and 13 people arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) after it conducted a pan-India operation against drug traffickers, officials said on Wednesday. The action was undertaken over the past fortnight and the central agency 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," NCB Deputy Director (operations) K P S Malhotra said in a statement. "A total of 13 people have been arrested by various zones of the agency 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 the trucks or other small vehicles that were intercepted," he said.

The official said the agency has launched a "systematic investigation" in these cases with a special focus on the financial trail of the network. 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 and it is currently the harvest season of the narcotic 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.

As per the NCB, illegal ganja or cannabis cultivation in the country is largely concentrated around the Naxal affected border areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Cannabis from this region finds its way to many states like Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and is also smuggled to Sri Lanka, it said.

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