Nagpur: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Nagpur Regional Unit, has struck at two separate trafficking networks in quick succession, busting an alleged inter-state drug racket and an illegal wildlife smuggling operation within three days.
In the first operation, DRI officers, with assistance from the Railway Protection Force (RPF), seized 1.3 kg of amphetamine worth around Rs 1.05 crore in the illicit market from a woman passenger at Nagpur Railway Station on September 27.
Acting on specific intelligence, the DRI team intercepted the woman travelling aboard the Hazrat Nizamuddin–KSR Bengaluru Rajdhani Express. During a detailed search of her luggage, officers found a specially created cavity concealed behind the inner fabric lining of her suitcase. Two packets wrapped in blue-coloured carbon paper were recovered from the hidden compartment. Field testing confirmed the substance as amphetamine.
The passenger was arrested under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and produced before the holiday court in Nagpur on the same day.
Leopard skin seized in Gondia
Just two days later, the DRI Nagpur team launched another operation based on intelligence inputs and intercepted an alleged wildlife trafficking network near Purada village in Gondia district on September 29.
During the operation, officers recovered a leopard skin and apprehended two persons suspected of involvement in its illegal trade.
The leopard is listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, providing it the highest level of legal protection under the legislation.
Following the seizure, the leopard skin and the two apprehended persons were handed over to the Forest Range Officer, North Deoria Range, Gondia, for further investigation and legal action under the wildlife protection law.
The twin operations underline the Nagpur DRI unit’s continued focus on disrupting organised trafficking networks operating across state borders.
The unit has previously carried out several wildlife-related seizures, including leopard skin in Ujjain, tiger bones in Seoni, pangolin scales in Pileru and Jagdalpur, and elephant ivory in Mysuru.
The latest operations have once again placed the Nagpur Regional Unit’s enforcement efforts against both illicit narcotics and organised wildlife trafficking under the spotlight.
