NCB seizes 500 kg ganja from truck in Nagpur, arrests three

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has seized 500 kg of ganja in Nagpur and arrested three people. The NCB had received a tip-off and laid a trap on that basis. The ganja, which had come to Nagpur from the Mumbai side, was caught in the trap.

According to the information available, the ganja was being smuggled from Sambalpur in Odisha towards Nagpur, hidden behind iron pipes in a truck. Police arrested the truck driver, the person who was to receive the ganja and an associate in the drug network.

RP Goldar and A. Sarkar were found in the suspect truck, which was from West Bengal. Police also arrested SAS Yusuf, alias Rajabhai, who was to receive the ganja in Nagpur. The ganja was to be distributed onward from Nagpur to Jalna and Indore. The accused had taken different routes to evade investigating agencies.

Rajabhai is said to have been involved in drug smuggling for the past four to five years and has earlier been booked under the NDPS Act. Police are now looking for other members of the network and suspect a larger network behind it.

The NCB has earlier seized more than 1,156 kg of ganja in Nagpur, Gondia and Bhandara. Its action against NDPS smuggling continues. More big names are likely to be caught, and the investigation is proceeding in that direction.

Separately, the Air Intelligence Unit of Customs at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai has seized 11.774 kg of hydroponic ganja. Its value in the international market is claimed to be about Rs 4.12 crore. A passenger, Mohammad Suhel, 35, has been arrested. The accused is said to be originally from Karwar in Karnataka.

On the night of October 3, officers on duty stopped the passenger for examination on specific intelligence. He had reached Mumbai from Bangkok on Batik Air flight OD 215. A personal search found no narcotic substance. But when a ROUTE 66 trolley bag in his checked-in baggage was examined, 12 plastic packets were found in it. The packets were suspected to contain ganja, and a field test confirmed hydroponic ganja. The total weight of the seized ganja is given as 11,774 grams.

The accused was arrested under the NDPS Act at 9.30 am on October 4. He is claimed to have stated that he was being paid to smuggle the ganja. The investigation continues to trace others and the network behind the smuggling.