Ganja Smugglers Use Religion as Cover to Transport Contraband

Hyderabad: Ganja smugglers are taking cover under the garb of religion, decorating their vehicles with pictures of deities under the garb of seeking alms and concealing contraband in a secret compartment to evade detection, it was found.

This came to light in a bust that took place near Khammam, with TS-NAB and Khammam police arresting three accused dressed in religious attire and recovering 484 kg of the contraband worth Rs.1.22 crore.

TS-NAB officials told Deccan Chronicle that they were tipped off about the trio, all Haryana natives, who were seeking to smuggle the contraband all the way from Odisha to Haryana.

Another such incident was reported under the Rachakonda commissionerate a few days ago

TS-NAB SP Sunitha Reddy said that ganja smugglers and drug peddlers were innovating to evade detection, but expressed confidence that the police have been up to the task of busting such modules.

“Not just TS-NAB, but local police, local task force teams, special teams and central law enforcement agencies are constantly monitoring this illegal activity and the coordination between various departments has also improved, making it difficult to escape,” she said.