The arrested suspects hail from the Krishna and Vijayawada districts of Andhra Pradesh and the Buldhana district of Maharashtra. The police have launched a probe into the source of the contraband and its possible distribution network. (Photo: Atikh ) With a seizure of around 168 kilograms of marijuana worth over Rs 30 lakh, Pune Rural police have claimed to have busted an interstate gang involved in smuggling of the contraband. Police have arrested 12 persons, including five women, in the action conducted over the weekend on the Pune-Solapur Highway near Patas in the Pune district.
A team from Yawat police station led by inspector Narayan Pawar received a tip-off on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday about a few people transporting marijuana allegedly being smuggled from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Following this, a trap was laid on the service road of Pune-Solapur Highway near Patas, around 75 kilometres from Pune City.
Around 2 am on Sunday, the police teams intercepted two trucks and searches were conducted in the presence of witnesses. Police recovered a large number of plastic bags hidden under the seats of the cabins of both the trucks. The bags contained marijuana weighing around 168 kilograms valued at Rs 30 lakh in the illegal market, police said. Police seized the two trucks and arrested 12 persons allegedly involved in the illegal activity.
The arrested suspects hail from the Krishna and Vijayawada districts of Andhra Pradesh, and from the Buldhana district of Maharashtra. Police have launched a probe into the source of the contraband and its possible distribution network.
Earlier, in July this year, in one of the biggest hauls of marijuana in Pune district by any agency, sleuths of the Pune unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had arrested six persons with the seizure of 1,878 kilograms of marijuana estimated at Rs 3.75 crore. The seizure was made near Patad by the DRI, which had intercepted two vehicles, which were transporting the contraband.
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