Gang used smooth way to sneak in and out

Following in the footsteps of the famous Colombian Cali Cartel, this gang of four found the most innovative and ‘safe’ methods to smuggle tonnes of marijuana into the Capital. Karan Choudhury reports.

Following in the footsteps of the famous Colombian Cali Cartel, this gang of four found the most innovative and ‘safe’ methods to smuggle tonnes of marijuana into the Capital.

HT Image

The Crime Branch of Delhi Police have nabbed a gang of drug traffickers who allegedly smuggled more than 600 kilograms of ganja in the city in a span of one-and-a-half years.

The ganja was bought from Sambalpur in Orissa and smuggled through road.

Airtight packaging to hide the smell

At one time, these smugglers used to traffic not less than 100 kg of ganja. They also had to take care of the fact that they don’t get caught because of the strong smell of marijuana. To do this, they found an innovative way. “They used heavy-duty plastic bags to pack the contraband. They then used to pack it in airtight bags. They would again pack it in another plastic bag and repeat the process. This made sure that all or any traces of the smell of ganja were gone,” said Ashok Chand, deputy commissioner of police (crime).

The police said they used to buy marijuana at wholesale prices and then had all the special equipment with them in their cars to pack it. The whole exercise of packing is time consuming and it took them almost a day everytime to meticulously pack the whole consignment.

Big cars, small chances of suspicion

Police have arrested Gurcharan Singh (47), Lakhvinder Singh (60), Pradeep Singh (35) and Kuldeep Singh (32) in the case. The other part of their modus operandi was using a car like Hyundai Accent to transfer their consignment.

“A car like Accent is rarely stopped at checkpoints. The cars were bought legitimately and only used for trafficking. They were able to make 14 such runs without any problems. They used to travel from Sambalpur via Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and used to enter the Capital at wee hours when the checking was thin,” he added.

The police said Harpreet Singh, Gurmeet’s brother is already in jail for similar charges. “It was after Harpreet was arrested in 2010 that Gurmeet took over the business,” Chand added.