SHILLONG: The Customs Headquarters (Preventive) Shillong on Friday seized 728 kgs of high quality ganja (cannabis) on the Shillong by-pass road.
In a statement, the Shillong Customs said that its sleuths along with its Narcotics Cell, Guwahati, intercepted a 12-wheeler truck bearing Tripura registration number near Diengpasoh village on the Shillong by-pass road around 12:45am and recovered the ganja.
While after search, the truck was found loaded with cement bags, further rummaging of the vehicle revealed that the entire wooden floor of the truck was falsely elevated by about 3 to 4 inches thereby creating a secret cavity along the entire length and breadth of the truck where the contraband was found hidden.
As many as 71 packets of ganja were found concealed in the secret cavity. The ganja packets weighing about 10 kg each were in compressed form and wrapped with adhesive tapes. “The seizure value of the ganja is around Rs. 36 lakh in the black market,” the statement added.
Investigations revealed that the ganja was loaded in Tripura and was on its way to Siliguri. The driver of the truck has been arrested and a case registered under the NDPS Act, 1985.
Over the past 18 months, Customs Headquarters (Preventive) Unit has effected seizure of over 4500 kgs of the illicit contraband from key routes in the Northeast used by the drug syndicates to ferry the contraband to other parts of the country.
