May 22: Sleuths of the Guwahati customs division seized a consignment of 5,412 kg of Manipuri ganja from a truck near Jorabat early this morning.

Official sources said acting on a tipoff, the customs officers of the anti-smuggling unit, headed by superintendent P.D. Kakati, intercepted a truck (WB 25 A 1111) on National Highway 37. “Apparently the truck was carrying a consignment of raw jute. After a thorough check, the ganja was found concealed in a wooden box under the jute consignment,” K. Ashi Khieye, joint commissioner of customs (preventive) said. A second set of numberplates was also found in the truck.

Today’s haul is the second biggest by the Guwahati customs division within a span of two months. In February, Manipuri ganja worth more than Rs. 2.5 crore was seized from six persons posing as armymen. In this case, the accused were dressed in battle fatigue and were bringing the contraband in two trucks painted army green and bearing West Bengal registration numbers.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the ganja consignment, which could fetch over Rs 1 crore in the open market, was going from Nagaland to Guwahati.

“During interrogation, the drivers said the truck would stop at Guwahati and move on to West Bengal for delivery,” a source said. Three persons, including two drivers and a handyman of the truck, were arrested and a case registered under Sections 42/43/49 of the NDPS Act 1985. Sources said customs officials were on the lookout for the truck since Saturday evening.

Officials said smuggling of narcotics from Manipur and Bhutan to the rest of the country using the city as a transit point has increased in recent years. Compared to 2,596 kg of ganja worth Rs 57.72 lakh seized in 2003-04, the unit has seized over 13,000 kg ganja in 2004-05, worth nearly Rs 5 crore.

The officials said the bulk of the demand for ganja in the country is met by Manipur, though a substantial amount comes from Bhutan as well.

The demand for Manipuri ganja is higher as it is of a better quality. It sells between Rs 4,000 and 5,000 a kg in West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan while it fetches about Rs 2,500 at the contraband drugs market in the Northeast.