Meerut, May 21 -- Muzaffarnagar police on Wednesday busted a major inter-state drug trafficking racket and seized banned intoxicating capsules worth nearly Rs.1 crore during a crackdown against narcotics smuggling in the district. Three alleged traffickers were arrested in the operation carried out by the Khalaapar police station team. According to police officials, a total of 11,66,400 banned narcotic capsules were recovered from the accused. The arrested men have been identified as Ashwani Sharma, a resident of Khatauli, Vinod, a resident of Dayalpuram in Khatauli, and Yashpal Grover, a resident of Gandhi Colony in the New Mandi area. Senior superintendent of police Sanjay Kumar Verma said the officials had received specific intelligence inputs regarding the large-scale trafficking of banned intoxicating capsules in the region. Acting on the information, police launched a checking and surveillance campaign in the area. During the operation, police intercepted a car carrying three persons. A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of two boxes filled with banned narcotic capsules. The three accused were arrested on the spot. During interrogation, police found that Ashwani Sharma had already been absconding in another case related to the smuggling of banned intoxicating capsules. Further questioning revealed that the accused were allegedly operating an inter-state smuggling network supplying banned narcotic capsules across Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. Based on information provided by the accused, police later recovered 54 additional boxes containing the prohibited capsules. Officials said the police are now investigating the wider network and attempting to identify other individuals connected to the racket. Further raids and arrests are likely as the investigation progresses....