NCB seizes 500 kg ganja in Nagpur, arrests 3 in multi-state drug network
The Mumbai unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau has seized 500 kg of ganja from a truck in Nagpur and arrested three people in connection with the case, an official said on Sunday.
The agency said the action exposed a drug trafficking syndicate operating across several states.
The arrested men have been identified as West Bengal residents R P Goldar and A Sarkar, who were in the truck, and Nagpur-based receiver SAS Yusuf alias Rajabhai.
According to the official, Yusuf is the main receiver and has been active in the peddling network for four years, with several cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act against him.
"Acting on specific intelligence regarding an interstate network transporting narcotics from Odisha into Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, an NCB team laid a trap in Nagpur during the early hours of Sunday and intercepted a West Bengal-registered commercial truck. A search led to recovery of 500 kilograms of ganja concealed beneath steel pipes," the official said.
Goldar and Sarkar were arrested first, and their on-the-spot questioning led the NCB to Yusuf, the official said.
The contraband had been loaded in Sambalpur in Odisha and was meant to be delivered to Yusuf in Nagpur for further distribution in Jalna in Maharashtra and Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
To avoid law enforcement agencies, the accused frequently changed their routes instead of using the highway network, the official added.
The NCB said the operation was part of an intensified crackdown in eastern Maharashtra against interstate narcotics networks.
The agency had earlier seized 209.8 kg of ganja in Nagpur on April 11, 702 kg in Gondia district on May 22, and 245 kg in Bhandara district on June 30, the official said.
With the seizure of 500 kg of ganja from the truck in Nagpur and the arrest of three men, the NCB said it had uncovered a multi-state network linked to the movement of narcotics from Odisha to Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.- Ends
