Bhubaneswar, Aug. 1 -- The Odisha Crime Branch's Special Task Force (STF) has busted an interstate cannabis smuggling racket by seizing 497 kg of high-grade ganja, valued at around Rs 2.5 crore, from a goods carrier truck near Pitapalli under Infovalley police limits in Khurda district, officials said on Friday.
Acting on specific intelligence, the STF intercepted the truck and recovered the contraband, which had been concealed beneath bags of rice to evade detection, during a search carried out under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
The driver-cum-owner of the vehicle, Prem Chandra of Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh, was detained in connection with the seizure. Preliminary investigation...