Mumbai-Bound 150Kg Cannabis Hidden In Steel Coils Intercepted On Nagpur-Hyd Highway In Midnight Op

Nagpur: A Mumbai-bound narcotics consignment concealed under steel coils was seized from a truck on Nagpur-Hyderabad highway corridor early Tuesday, dismantling an interstate drug syndicate. At least 150kg high-quality cannabis of Rs 38 lakh was confiscated by police in the midnight operation.The truckers, now behind bars, were scheduled to take steel coils from Bhubaneshwar to Vapi in Gujarat. Instead, they took a detour, travelled to Sambalpur, loaded cannabis and concealed the contraband under steel coils, which have now been seized. After 48 hours of surveillance covering 200km, officers blocked the suspicious Odisha-registered truck with strategic barricades, leaving the accused with no escape room. The contraband was scheduled to be supplied to Mumbai and Goa.Acting on intelligence inputs from the crime branch, the operation was led by DCP Crime Deepak Aggarwal, who laid a trap near Joginder Singh Dhaba at Pardi around 4.30am on Tuesday.The two accused — Jogesh Devuri, 30, and Mahendra Devuri, 40, residents of Odisha — were nabbed. Besides the contraband, 29.7 metric tons of steel coils valued at Rs 72 lakh, and two mobile phones were seized. The total value of seizure was pegged at Rs 1.5 crore.Preliminary interrogation revealed a clinical modus operandi. The accused picked up steel coils for delivery to a reputed corporate company in Vapi. They then moved to Sambalpur to load the cannabis consignment before driving to Mumbai.The accused duo spilled names of key accomplices — Babaji Behera from Tirsuriya, Cuttack district, and Vishnu Pradhan from Dakwamunda, Odisha — who allegedly helped procure and transport the drugs. A case has been registered at Pardi police station under relevant sections of NDPS Act. Police are now trying to trace the remaining syndicate members and end-receivers in Mumbai and beyond.Nagpur's strategic location on major highways makes it a vulnerable transit point for drug traffickers targeting western India, including the bustling markets of Bombay and tourist hotspots of Goa, said an official.