India’s Narcotics Control Bureau said on 9 July 2020 that intensive enforcement against ganja smuggled from the Andhra Pradesh–Odisha border had seized 5,477 kg of the drug in five cases across four states.[1] Acting on intelligence of large-scale movement from the border region to other states, the bureau ran coordinated operations over the previous week that broke up several trafficking networks using nationally permitted trucks to ferry the contraband across state borders.[1] Thirteen suspects were arrested across the five transport cases.[1]

In the largest detailed case, the bureau’s Kolkata zonal unit seized 1,133.2 kg of ganja near the Dhulagarh toll plaza on national highway 6 on 28 June, hidden in a coconut-laden truck bearing Jharkhand registration plates, and took three people into custody.[1] On 2 July the Hyderabad sub-zonal unit intercepted a 14-wheeler trailer with Andhra Pradesh plates at Vijayawada and recovered 515 kg of ganja concealed in cavities between the vehicle’s chassis, arresting two people.[1] The bureau said it was also investigating network links with money laundering and other anti-state activity.[1]