NCB nabs leader of inter-state cannabis syndicate

Mumbai's NCB has arrested the ringleader of a cannabis trafficking syndicate, identified as "NP," after a month-long investigation in Odisha.

MUMBAI: In a breakthrough, Mumbai zonal unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has nabbed the alleged controller of an inter-state trafficking syndicate that was under the agency’s scanner for supplying cannabis to dealers and peddlers in the city.

NCB nabs leader of inter-state cannabis syndicate

Acting on specific intelligence, NCB officials intercepted the accused at his village in Ganjam district of Odisha, in coordination with local authorities, after a field unit had been deployed there for over a month to gather information to trace the ringleader, agency sources said.

The accused, identified only as “NP”, will be brought to Mumbai on a transit remand, to investigate his role in a case related to the agency’s seizure of a cannabis consignment brought illegally from Odisha to the city, agency sources said.

The NCB had seized 45 kilograms of cannabis from a few persons in Chembur in October, who were allegedly part of the accused’s trafficking network, the sources said. The cannabis had been concealed at a house for subsequent sale to buyers, the sources said.

The syndicate under the NCB’s scanner specialises in not just sourcing the contraband from Odisha for transport to Mumbai but also maintaining a network of operatives in the city to oversee its concealment at selected hideouts, the sources said. “From the hideouts, the cannabis is sold to a network of peddlers and dealers in the city, when the price is profitable for the syndicate,” an agency source said.

The NCB had deployed a team in Odisha after it allegedly intercepted some syndicate members in Mumbai a month ago and questioned them about the accused’s likely whereabouts. It was learnt that the accused rarely used phones and changed locations frequently to evade detection, which made the task of zeroing in on him challenging, the sources said.

The accused had been recently granted bail by a court. He allegedly has two cases registered against him in Odisha - one under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the second under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, the sources said.