Bhubaneswar: The Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha’s CID-Crime Branch has busted an interstate cannabis smuggling racket, recovering nearly half a tonne of ganja concealed in a goods truck near Bhubaneswar.
Acting on specific intelligence, an STF team intercepted a goods carrier near Pitapalli under the Info Valley police limits. Subsequent searches led to recover of 497 kg of ganja carefully hidden beneath bags of rice. The estimated market value of the seized cannabis is about Rs 2.5 crore.
Police said the smugglers used the rice bags as a cover to avoid detection while transporting the contraband. The driver-cum-owner of the vehicle, identified as Raju, a resident of Chaman Nagaria village under Kher police limits in Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh, has been detained.
Preliminary findings indicate that the ganja was sourced from Gajapati district in Odisha, loaded at Brahmapur, and was being taken to Delhi.
Besides the cannabis and the truck, mobile phones and other incriminating items were also seized.
A case has been registered under relevant sections of the NDPS Act.
STF teams are set to travel to Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi to trace suppliers, transporters, recipients, financiers and other members of the network, and to map the financial trail. It may also seek the remand of the driver, who is scheduled to be produced before the jurisdictional magistrate on Saturday after completion of formalities, to uncover the full extent of the racket.