LUCKNOW, Nov. 3 -- Uttar Pradesh is emerging as a transit corridor for opium smuggling to Punjab, with the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) seizing 26.737 kg of the contraband worth an estimated Rs.1.3 crore in two separate operations and arresting four alleged traffickers.

The seizures have brought two suspected interstate supply routes under the scanner. In one case, a Bareilly-based handler allegedly coordinated deliveries through couriers, while the other involved opium sourced from Barachatti in Bihar's Gaya district and destined for Mohali in Punjab.

In the Rampur operation on Monday, the ANTF's Bareilly unit and Gautam Buddh Nagar sub-unit intercepted an SUV near Shiv Dharam Kanta on the Bilari-Shahabad road under Saifni police s...