Cannabis, worth ₹11 crore, recovered from truck on KMP Expressway

The police on Sunday seized 2,233 kilograms of cannabis (ganja), worth ₹11 crore in the international market, from a fodder truck on Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP)

The police on Sunday seized 2,233 kilograms of cannabis (ganja), worth ₹11 crore in the international market, from a fodder truck on Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway near Pachgaon in Manesar.

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According to the police, there has been a spurt in the smuggling of drugs since March last year. The police have so far have recovered drugs worth ₹14 crore in the last eight months across the district.

According to the police, the cannabis was being transported in a truck from Odisha and was on its way to Uklana in Hisar in Haryana. The driver of the truck, Bhupinder Singh, and the co-driver, Omji Singh, both residents of Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, were arrested.

During interrogation, they allegedly told the police that they have been working with a transport company for the last three years. Recently, they came in contact with some people of their village, who used to allegedly sell ganja and smuggle it to states such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. They lured them to smuggle it from Odisha to different parts of Haryana, by promising them ₹4 lakh per consignment. This was their first job, said the police.

Last week, they came to Koraput in Odisha to unloaded a consignment of metal, which was sent from Hisar. One of the suspects met them and offered ₹4 lakh for the delivery of drugs to Uklana in Hisar. They were allegedly given an advance of ₹20,000 and were asked to hide the drugs beneath some fodder. They were told to deliver the consignment to a drug peddler in Uklana, after which they were supposed drive back the empty truck to another location in Hisar, from where they were supposed to load another consignment through the transporter, said the police.

“The contraband substance was to be handed over to a peddler in Uklana but the crime investigation agency (CIA) team of Sector 10A intercepted the truck at KMP near Panchgaon during a routine checking. The police recovered the cannabis from 70 sacks. The remaining 380 sacks were filled with inferior quality fodder,” said Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime).

An FIR was registered at the Manesar police station under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the suspects were taken on a two-day police remand, the police said.

KK Rao, commissioner of police, said, “This is the largest recovery of drugs in the last three years in the district. We have adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards drug trafficking in the district. The main reason behind the spurt in the drug-peddling cases is the rise in the demand. After the lockdown was lifted, the demand has increased and therefore drug peddlers are more active nowadays. However, crime units and police teams are working very hard to nab the peddlers and the middlemen involved in the trade.”