4 held in raid at drug packaging factory in Noida slum

Three persons were arrested and a minor apprehended by police, which claimed Wednesday to have busted an illegal cannabis packaging factory here.

Nearly 31 kg of cannabis was seized during a post-midnight raid in a slum under Sector 20 police station limits Tuesday, police said.

Police said so far since August this year, four such factories have been busted and 246 kg cannabis along with 700 packets of smack have been seized in raids in city areas under Sector 20 police station.

"As many as 51 people have been arrested in police crackdown on drugs since August and Rs 2.85 lakh earned through drug sales seized from them," Circle Officer, Noida City 1st, Amit Kishor Shrivastava told reporters.

On Wednesday's arrests, he said a police team was conducting a routine vehicle checking near the Bas Balli T-point in Sector 9 when they were tipped-off about the illegal factory operating nearby.

"Around 12.30 am, officials raided a hut in the slum and three men were arrested while a minor detained," Shrivastava said.

He said Rs 23,800, a weighing machine, 8.9 kg plastic for making packets and machine for sealing and packaging the drugs were seized from the spot.

Those arrested have been identified as Vijay Pathak, Kishor alias Lala and Piyush Rajput, he said, adding that the minor would help with the packaging work.

The accused would not only smuggle the drugs into the city but also distribute it locally through their widespread network, which runs from slums and JJ clusters. They would pack the drugs in packets of different sizes and sell them for Rs 100, Rs 150 and Rs 200.

"The drugs were being procured from Odisha and being brought to NCR in four-wheelers. They would purchase them at cheap prices - Rs 3,000-4,000 - and then sell them for Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000 per kg," Shrivastava said.

The accused have been charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 and produced before a magisterial court, which has sent them to jail, police said.