Ludhiana police raid courier company warehouse in Focal Point, recover 56kg marijuana

The Crime Branch on Wednesday raided the warehouse of a courier company in Focal Point and recovered nearly 56 kg of marijuana concealed in multiple packets, police said.

They said the warehouse of XpressBees was raided while acting on specific information.

According to the police, the Crime Branch had earlier seized over a quintal of marijuana, or ganja, from the same courier company, and slapped a formal notice on them.

Divulging details, Navdeep Singh, in-charge, Crime Branch, said that after the previous seizures, they served a notice to XpressBees.

He said in view of the notice, the company informed the police on Wednesday about a suspicious shipment. He said the consignments originated from Odisha and were intended for distribution across the district. He pointed out that none of the parcels had a complete or accurate address.

So far, approximately seven quintals of ganja has been recovered from parcels associated with this courier company and further legal action is underway.

Common modus operandi

Smuggling drugs through couriers is not new in the state. Just last month, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 13 kg opium from another courier company in the city.

In February, the DRI’s local unit also foiled a major international drug smuggling attempt by recovering over 12 kg of opium from a courier office here. At least seven parcels booked from Ludhiana and destined for various locations in the US and Canada were found to have concealed contraband, in violation of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. A thorough examination of the parcels resulted in the recovery of 30 packets containing contraband concealed in utensils and adult diapers.