On Sunday, the Haryana Police seized more than 2,000 kilograms of cannabis, worth ₹11 crores, from a fodder truck near Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) expressway near Pachegaon in Gurugram's Manesar.
The cannabis was transported to Hisar, Haryana from Uklana in Odisha in a truck carrying cotton seeds.
The team arrested the driver, Bhupinder Singh, and the co-driver, Omji Singh, both residents of Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh, reported Hindustan Times.
In the past eight months, the police have recovered drugs worth ₹14 crores from across the district.
During the interrogation, the accused revealed that they had been working with a transport company for the last three years. Both of them came in contact with some people, who allegedly smuggled and sold cannabis to various states including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan.
The accused claimed that the peddlers had lured them to smuggle the drugs from Odisha to different parts of Haryana and assured them ₹4 lakh per consignment.
The peddlers had given them an advance of ₹20,000 for the same. Another peddler in Uklana was supposed to receive the drugs' delivery, and from there, the duo was directed to load the truck for another consignment, according to the police. But the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) team stopped the truck near KMP during a routine check.
An FIR has been registered at the Manesar police station under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Police Commissioner KK Rao informed that this was the largest recovery of drugs in the last three years reported from Gurugram. "We have a zero-tolerance policy on drug trafficking. There has been a spurt in such cases, and one of the main reasons behind it is the rise in demand," Rao said.
He said the demand increased after the lockdown was lifted and the peddlers have become more active. However, the department and crime units are working hard to arrest the peddlers and the middlemen involved.
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