Hyderabad: The Narcotics Control Bureau on Monday, March 1, said it busted a cannabis trafficking network by arresting eight people and seizing 681.8 kg of contraband.

According to the NCB, acting on specific intelligence inputs by NCB Bengaluru, the Hyderabad sub-zonal unit intercepted three cars near Pedda Amberpet Toll Plaza, Rangareddy District in Telangana, and seized the contraband.

The seized ganja in 335 packets was meant to be sold in various parts of the Pune and Osmanabad districts in Maharashtra. A syndicate of eight people used to source cannabis in huge quantities from Visakhapatnam and distribute it in various parts of Pune and Osmanabad in Maharashtra.

They added that the illegal cannabis cultivation in India is largely concentrated around the Naxal infected regions of the Andhra and Odisha border. Cannabis from this region finds its way all over the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, and is smuggled across the ocean to Sri Lanka.

Bengaluru and Hyderabad NCB sleuths worked in tandem, while the Bengaluru sleuths decoded and passed the intelligence inputs and Hyderabad sleuths worked on the ground meticulously to bust this syndicate.

The NCB said that these packets were recovered from three vehicles -Bolero pickup trucks that camouflage like vegetable transporting vehicles, while from the boot space of Swift Dzire and Honda city car.

According to a statement released by the NCB, the arrested are identified as S. Pawar, V. Pawar, B. Ware, M. Dhotre, D. Deshmukh, R. Gunjal, A. Gandhi, and S. Sanap.

"The consignment was concealed in compressed form and kept in a brick-like 335 packets and wrapped with brown color adhesive tapes," the NCB explained.

According to the NCB, the consignment was passing through the Andhra-Odisha border and illegal ganja cultivation is largely concentrated in Naxal infested Andhra-Odisha border areas.

The note added that difficult terrain and inaccessibility make these areas difficult for law enforcement agencies to destroy illegal cultivation of ganja.

The NCB Hyderabad sub-division has registered a case and is investigating.