NCB busts interstate drug network, seizes ₹5-cr cannabis concealed in steel pipes

The cannabis had allegedly been brought from Sambalpur in Odisha and was hidden among the pipes in a commercial goods carrier

Mumbai: A truck carrying steel pipes was allegedly being used to smuggle 500kg of cannabis worth around ₹5 crore when the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) intercepted it in Nagpur on Sunday and arrested three men linked to an inter-state drug trafficking network.

NCB busts interstate drug network, seizes ₹5-cr cannabis concealed in steel pipes

The cannabis had allegedly been brought from Sambalpur in Odisha and was hidden among the pipes in a commercial goods carrier. It was meant to be handed over to a Nagpur-based receiver before being distributed in Jalna, Maharashtra, and Indore, Madhya Pradesh, officials said.

The NCB’s Mumbai unit had been tracking information about a Nagpur-based network allegedly procuring ganja from Odisha and moving it to different parts of Maharashtra.

Officials said the network concealed cannabis among ordinary goods to avoid suspicion and often used random routes instead of conventional shortest routes to evade law enforcement.

The agency received information that two West Bengal-based men, RP Goldar and A Sarkar, were allegedly transporting a large ganja consignment from Odisha to Nagpur for delivery to S Yusuf alias Rajabhai.

The pipes had been loaded in Kolkata and were supposed to be delivered in Indore, while the ganja was allegedly meant for a Nagpur receiver.

Following the interrogation of the two men, the NCB arrested Yusuf, who was allegedly waiting to receive the consignment.

An NCB official said Yusuf had allegedly been involved in drug trafficking for four to five years and had faced cases registered by the police under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act).

“All the three persons were arrested and efforts are being made to apprehend other drug associates,” the official said.

The agency has made several large ganja seizures in Maharashtra in recent months. On April 11, it seized 209.85kg in Nagpur and arrested four people, including two alleged local receivers. On May 22, 702kg was seized in Gondia, with two alleged traffickers arrested.

On June 30, the agency seized another 245kg in Bhandara and arrested two alleged drug operatives, including a Nagpur-based receiver.