The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) sleuths seized 31 kgs of opium and arrested four persons after an inter-state gang of traffickers was busted.
The accused were ferrying opium in a truck plying under the garb of carrying essential goods during the nationwide lockdown. The federal agency arrested the alleged kingpin of the racket- Manoj Dangi from Chatra district of Jharkhand. The raids were conducted in Lucknow and Ranchi.
The agency received input on May 16 regarding trafficking of large quantities of opium from Jharkhand to Haryana. Following which a Punjab registration truck was intercepted at NH-19 near Fatehpur and the sleuths recovered 31 kgs of opium.
According to Kamal Malhotra, deputy director Operations, NCB, "The packets containing opium were concealed in the hood of the truck. The consignment belongs to the notorious inter-state drug trafficker namely, Manoj Dangi of Jharkhand."
Three persons were arrested and at their behest Manoj Dangi was apprehended from Jharkhand's Chhatra by the NCB's sub-zone.
So far, NCB Zonal Unit, Lucknow has managed to seize 126.65 KGs of opium, sourced from this region, in various seizure operations in 2020. This has majorly disrupted the supply chain, added Malhotra.
"The preliminary investigation has revealed that the opium was sourced from Jharkhand. The supply of opium from Jharkhand is destined to various places in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh," said Malhotra.
According to NCB, the illicit production of opium in India is mainly concentrated in Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
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