Bhubaneswar: Police in Sonepur district have busted a new modus operandi for smuggling ganja (cannabis) with the seizure of 47 kg of the contraband hidden inside specially modified plastic mats.
The arrested individual, a resident of Madhya Pradesh, was posing as a street hawker while transporting the consignment on a motorcycle from neighbouring Boudh district.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs, a team from Tarva police station intercepted the suspect in Tarbha area. A routine check revealed that the plastic mats had been cleverly cut open and fitted with concealed pockets to stash the ganja, making the load appear innocuous at first glance. The accused had apparen
tly adopted the vendor disguise to blend in and evade suspicion during transit.
“They are always trying new ways to smuggle ganja to other states. Yesterday, we intercepted one individual who was attempting to smuggle ganja in mats disguising as a hawker. The mats had special pockets made in them which had ganja hidden in them. At a glance, a person would genuinely mistake them as those of a hawker. We acted on specific input and seized 47 kg of ganja. Police are vigilant towards the new practices of smugglers and are foiling them,” Sonepur SP Narayan Nayak told the media on Monday.
On April 1, three persons were arrested after 132.9 kg of ganja worth around Rs 2 crore was seized from a car under the same police limits. Sonepur police registered nine NDPS cases and seized nearly 1500 kg of ganja in four days earlier this month.
In March, 187 packets of ganja concealed inside a specially-crafted secret compartment in a pick-up van, seemingly taking cues from the 2021 superhit Telugu film ‘Pushpa’, was seized in Durdura area under Subalaya police limits.