Bihar: NCB alert against ganja smugglers

PATNA: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is on alert as drug smugglers may try to push contraband inside Bihar from neighbouring states where there is no lockdown.
According to NCB, the nationwide lockdown since March 24 due to Covid-19 pandemic had forced drug smugglers to become dormant. After the lockdown relaxations, the NCB made its biggest seizure of the year when they recovered 1.4 tonnes of ganja from Deedarganj in Patna City on July 16, the day the statewide lockdown was imposed again.
NCB’s Patna zonal director Kumar Manish told TOI that harvesting season of ganja starts in April while its sowing starts in November. He said most of the ganja consignments are smuggled in state from Odhisa, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura.
“Since there was lockdown before the beginning of harvesting season, narcotics smugglers will now made all efforts to sell the maximum quantity before sowing season begins. The ganja harvested since April is also available with those involved in its cultivation and smuggling,” he said.
“With no lockdown in states around Bihar, it is easy for smugglers to transport the contraband consignments up to the state’s border for finally pushing it inside,” he said.
Manish said the consignment seized from Deedarganj was also from the border areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. “The Deedarganj seizure was our 7th and biggest seizure in state since January this year. Truck driver Naib Singh, a native of Barnala in Punjab, and the receiver’s associate Arvind Kumar from Vaishali were arrested. The consignment was to be unloaded somewhere near Jethuli for further distribution,” he said.
Manish said NCB had seized 255kg ganja from Namkum in Ranchi on July 14. It was to be smuggled to Bihar. “Nine drug smugglers were arrested, including two from Saran and one from Muzaffarpur,” Manish said.