Nagpur: The regional wing of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Nagpur unit, has seized more than two metric tonne ganja worth Rs3 crore, and arrested four persons at Bastar in Chhattisgarh in the early hours of Friday. DRI sleuths also netted the kingpin of the narcotics trade in the country, who was wanted in different cases in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
As per a reliable source, the trap was laid at Keskal, around 40km away from Kanker, following a specific input. The truck had loaded the consignment from Malkangiri in Odisha, where the country’s maximum ganja is produced and transported out, a day ago. It was heading towards Uttar Pradesh via the highly sensitive Maoist belt of Bastar in Chhattisgarh when the consignment was seized. The operation, which started at 1am, continued for five hours.
The kingpin, now in DRI custody, was learnt to be piloting the truck carrying ganja. Apart from the kingpin, there were two more persons in the car which was escorting the truck. DRI has also netted the driver of the truck. The ownership details of the truck are now being ascertained.
It’s learnt that the ganja was being transported under 12 tonnes of salt which was laid in layers over the narcotics consignment. During a search, the ganja was discovered in the truck. The city-based regional unit of DRI was assisted by Central GST team from Raipur. The entire operation was supervised by zonal office of DRI Mumbai.
