Berhampur: With enforcement agencies stepping up vigil, drug peddlers have resorted to inventive ploys to escape detection.
Two persons were arrested Monday while trying to smuggle cannabis in cricket bats in Berhampur. The Berhampur Government Railway Police (GRP), in coordination with the Railway Protection Force (RPF), nabbed two drug peddlers, who were natives of Sagarpara under Murshidabad district in West Bengal and had train tickets for Kerala.
The two were detained after they were found carrying suspiciously heavy bundles of backpacks and plastic cricket bats.
On thorough verification and following all legal procedures in the presence of an Executive Magistrate and independent witnesses, 17.5 kg of cannabis, locally called Ganja, concealed inside 23 backpacks and 10 cricket bats, was recovered and seized. Both have been arrested under relevant sections of the NDPS Act.
Samples have been drawn for chemical examination, and further investigation is underway to identify the source, network, and intended receivers of the contraband, police said.
In the past, cases of seizure of cannabis from ambulances, contraband stashed inside green coconut-laden trucks, and smuggling of ganja in empty oil tankers were reported to escape detection.
Cannabis stashed in courier garment packets was also seized in Bhubaneswar in past months.
