A large-scale interstate cannabis smuggling syndicate has been broken by police in Bastar, who arrested six syndicate members and confiscated 54 kilograms of illegal drugs worth nearly ₹26.97 lakh. This was done after the Bodhghat police received a tip off that led to a raid being conducted at Goyal Dharamshala where the accused had resided.
Those who have been arrested are Bablu Kushwaha, Srinivas and Deshraj Kushwaha of Rajasthan, Pankaj Upreti of Uttar Pradesh and Ram Singh and Dubraj Kashyap of Sukma. The raid led to the confiscation of the cannabis in their possession by the authorities, a major milestone towards countering drug trafficking in the area.
The operation revealed a highly organised supply chain to the police officials. One of the accused of Sukma was reported to be a middleman who procured the cannabis in Malkangiri, Odisha and carried it to Jagdalpur. The members of the interstate network sold the drugs to different states around the country.
The accused has been registered against as per the applicable Subsections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act such as the Subsection 20(B) that concerns the possession and trafficking of cannabis.
Authorities have said that they are doing additional research to discover other links in the network and the full scope of the smuggling activity. The bust draws attention to continued attempts by law enforcing agencies to destroy the drug trafficking channels that are operating beyond state boundaries.