Nagpur: In a major breakthrough, Unit-5 of the Nagpur Crime Branch exposed a large-scale ganja smuggling operation and seized over 106 kilograms of the contraband cleverly concealed in vegetable crates being transported in a tempo. Two accused have been arrested, and contraband worth Rs 41 lakh has been confiscated.
Acting on a tip-off, the Crime Branch laid a trap in the Pardi area. As per the information, a tempo carrying ganja hidden beneath crates of vegetables was en route from Odisha to Nagpur. Believing the intelligence to be reliable, police set up surveillance on the service road along the Bhandara-Hyderabad highway.
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15 july 2025
When the suspicious vehicle arrived, police intercepted and inspected it. Upon checking, they discovered 106 kg of ganja hidden under the vegetable crates. The two men in the tempo, Taj Habib Sheikh Mohammad and Shailendra Ram Lakhan Gupta, were immediately taken into custody.
During interrogation, the accused revealed that the consignment was intended to be delivered to Mohsin alias Firoz of Yashodhara Nagar in Nagpur. They also confessed that they had procured the ganja from two individuals in Odisha named Chhotu and Wangu.
In addition to the narcotics, the police seized an Eicher tempo, three mobile phones, and 203 vegetable crates, taking the total seizure value to Rs 41,52,550.
The arrested accused have been handed over to Pardi Police Station, and further investigation is underway to trace other members of the smuggling network.
The crackdown by the Crime Branch has dealt a significant blow to the inter-state drug trafficking racket operating in and around Nagpur.
