In a major anti-narcotics operation, the Special Operations Team (SOT), Kukatpally Zone, along with the Patancheru police, busted an interstate ganja smuggling racket and seized 400 kilograms of dry ganja worth nearly Rs 2 crore near Muthangi under the Patancheru police station limits.
The police arrested seven persons allegedly involved in transporting the contraband from Odisha to Maharashtra through Hyderabad using an Eicher DCM and an escorting Ertiga car.
Two more prime accused persons - a receiver from Maharashtra and a supplier from Odisha - are absconding.
According to the police, the accused were transporting the ganja from Malkangiri in Odisha by concealing the packets beneath empty vegetable plastic trays in the DCM. The SOT and Patancheru police intercepted the vehicles on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) on Monday morning and seized the ganja, the DCM and Ertiga, and six mobile phones.
The arrested accused belong to Solapur and nearby areas in Maharashtra.
The police said that the racket had been operating across States due to huge profits from the illegal narcotics trade.
The police urged the public to share information related to drug peddling through Dial 100 or the Cyberabad NDPS Enforcement Cell helplines, while assuring confidentiality for informants.