4 drug smugglers held, opium worth Rs 13 cr seized by UP STF

The Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday busted an inter-state drug smuggling gang, according to an official statement.

The STF arrested four members of the gang and recovered opium worth about Rs 13 crore.

The accused smuggled the contraband from Jharkhand and were planning to take it to Uttrakhand via Shahjahanpur, according to a press statement issued by the STF.

”Acting on this information, the STF team intercepted the accused in Shahjahanpur. The team recovered 13.2 kg of opium from their possession which is worth Rs 13 crore in the international market. Rs 53,990 in cash was also recovered from the accused,” the statement read.

The arrested smugglers have told the STF during interrogation that they brought opium from a Jharkhand resident, Rocky Raj, near Chopan in Sonbhadra district, STF sources said.

The accused were involved in smuggling drugs for the last two-three years.

The STF has booked the arrested accused under sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act.