A man shows packets of marijuana in Patna. Telegraph picture

Patna, June 16: Two men from Bihar, who have been smuggling the largest quantity of marijuana from the Northeast to the state, have been on the radar of the police and the intelligence.

While one hails from Patna, the other is from Muzaffarpur district.

A senior police officer told The Telegraph that Muzaffarpur has emerged as the main hub or collection zone of marijuana now with the contraband being distributed across the state from the particular district.

“Each year, a minimum of 15,000kgs of marijuana enters Bihar from the northeastern states like Assam, Manipur, Nagaland among others. In a way similar to that of the Taliban, which grows opium to support its financial base, many insurgent groups of the northeastern states cultivate marijuana for the same. The contraband first comes to Siliguri, one of the main distribution centres before transported to different places, including Bihar,” Patna City superintendent of police (SP) Shivdeep Lande said.

Marijuana is transported by several express trains, hidden in airconditioning ducts and in washrooms, which is allegedly in the knowledge of the police and the administration, but no action taken against it.

“Two persons mainly bring the contraband into Bihar. Both can be said to be the biggest kingpins in the marijuana trade. One hails from Patna, while the other from Muzaffarpur district,” the senior officer said.

On June 11, the Bypass police in Patna City had nab- bed two men with 364kg of marijuana.

The duo were smuggling the same from Assam. The drug enters the state through bordering districts like Purnea and Katihar before being transported to Muzaffarpur by trucks.

“The trucks carrying coal for brick kilns are used for the same. The marijuana is hidden below the coal and is transported to Muzaffarpur, the main collection centre at this point of time. It is difficult to state at present as to why Muzaffarpur has been chosen for this. Catching hold of consignments is a challenge as the police need precise information about these trucks,” the officer said.

The drugs are further distributed to many areas of the state from Muzaffarpur with people mostly using costly cars and SUVs for transportation to prevent drawing the police’s suspicion.

“The catch on June 11 proved this as the two men were travelling by a Tata Safari at the time of arrest. Drugs have been recovered time and again from Jakkanpur area as the Mithapur bus stand is located nearby and the drug is also transported by passenger buses too,” the officer said.

Police sources said it was difficult to track the two men.

“Though there is information about them, they are constantly on the roll and hard to trace. If they are caught, the entire marijuana market of the state will suffer a setback,” the officer added.

The profit margin for the business is huge and with the police not really acknowledging it as a very serious contraband like cocaine or smack, it is always a booming business.

“The profit margin rests at 1:10. For example, the buyer purchases the contraband from the northeastern states at Re 1 and can easily sell the same at Rs 10 here. The transportation of the drug till the state border is the responsibility of the seller. The fact cannot be denied that the local police and highway patrols are in connivance with these selling gangs,” the SP said.