Gang of five held with ₹50 lakh of premium marijuana in Noida

Five men were arrested in Noida for smuggling ₹50 lakh worth of premium marijuana. Police are investigating their sourcing and operations.

Five men were arrested on Monday for allegedly smuggling Original Grower (OG) marijuana, Shillong, and Mango marijuana into the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), police said, adding that the premium-quality marijuana worth ₹50 lakh was recovered from their possession.

A case under sections of the Narcotics Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered against them at the Phase 2 police station on Monday, and further investigation is underway, police said. (Representational image)

The accused were identified as Ajim, 22, Shamim, 28, Bunty Kumar, 28 (all single names), and brothers Chandan Rao, 24, and Suraj Rao, police said.

“For the past few days, we were receiving information that a gang was actively supplying OG and other quality marijuana to retailers in Noida. Acting on a tip-off, we formed a team and on Monday we arrested them from Sector 93 in Noida,” said Shakti Mohan Avasthy, deputy commissioner of police (Central Noida).

“During the investigation, the suspects revealed that they were smuggling marijuana in Delhi-NCR after procuring it from other states. We are also tracing how they were able to procure a large quantity of marijuana without any suspicion,” the DCP added.

An officer, part of the investigation, on condition of anonymity, said, “Bunty is the mastermind in the gang, and it was revealed that he used to procure OG marijuana from Thailand and other drugs from Shillong and other districts.”

“Two kilograms of OG worth around ₹6 lakh, 8 kilograms of Shillong and 16.5 kilograms of Mango marijuana worth ₹50 lakh were recovered from their possession,” said DCP Avasthy, adding that three motorcycles that they were using to transport marijuana were also recovered from their possession.

A case under sections of the Narcotics Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered against them at the Phase 2 police station on Monday, and further investigation is underway, police said.