Seven persons, belonging to Uttar Pradesh, were arrested for allegedly smuggling ganja during three separate raids conducted by the police in Koraput district, a police officer said Wednesday.
While three persons were arrested with 72 kgs of the contraband near Panasput-Bagra Chhaka under Jeypore sadar police limits, two each were arrested under Boipariguda and Borigumma police limits on Tuesday, Sagarika Nath, sub- divisional police officer, Jeypore, said.
We were tipped-off about the consignments and accordingly the raids were conducted. We have seized 170 quintals of ganja from their possession, the SDPO said.
Two cars and a motorcycle have also been seized, she said.
They had procured the contraband from Malkangiri and were smuggling it to Uttar Pradesh, she said.
The arrested persons have been identified as Birendra Yadav, Ganesh Singh, Sunil Kumar Keshari, Manoj Kumar Sisodia, Akbar Khan, Santosh Yadav and Santosh Singh, the police said.
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With this, police have arrested at least 81 ganja smugglers and seized nearly 7,000 kgs of ganja in the district since January, they said.
To make a quick buck, youths get involved in this illegal trade. The whole gang operates so diligently that sometimes it becomes difficult to get an inkling about the activities, the SDPO said.
Local unemployed youths are engaged as informers who guard the vehicle to reach upto a certain distance safely. From there, another group takes charge and subsequently the consignment is taken outside the state. The profit margin is so high that traders take a risk in spite of frequent police crackdown, police said.
Last year, Koraput was adjudged as the best performing district in detection of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) cases in the state.
We have adopted zero tolerance towards ganja smuggling as it is directly linked to increasing crime in the district, said SP (Koraput) Kanwar Vishal Singh.