NCB seizes over 100 kg poppy straw, other drugs during raids in Maharashtra’s Nanded

The NCB said in a note that poppy straw is also known as opium straw, mowed opium straw, crushed poppy capsule, poppy chaff, or poppy husk.

The Narcotics Control Bureau or NCB said on Tuesday seized more than 100 kilograms of drugs as it busted a drug factory in the Nanded district of Maharashtra during a raid and is conducting more searches at multiple locations in Madhya Pradesh.

NCB said the drugs were seized from three shops located in the Kamtha area of Nanded.  (Representative Image)

The anti-drugs agency said it seized 111kg of poppy straw, 1.4kg of opium, cash worth ₹1.55 lakh and two grinding machines used for grinding poppy seeds, an electronic scale and a note counting machine on Monday.

"On specific information, a team of NCB Mumbai raided three shops located at Kamtha, Nanded and busted clandestine drug unit. Other than seizures three persons were intercepted by the bureau," NCB said in a statement, according to news agency ANI.

"It is an interstate gang which is operating. Searches in multiple locations in Madhya Pradesh have also begun," Sameer Wankhede, NCB's Mumbai zonal director, said.

The NCB said in a note that poppy straw—also known as opium straw, mowed opium straw, crushed poppy capsule, poppy chaff, or poppy husk—is a raw material from which illegal heroin may be produced. Poppy straw is derived from opium poppies that are harvested when fully mature and dried by mechanical means, without the ripe poppy seeds, the note added.

(With ANI inputs)