Noida: The Noida Police on Thursday raised alarm about traffickers using rental cars to supply drugs in the National Capital Region (NCR) after it arrested two suspects and allegedly recovered from them more than 100 kg of Odisha-sourced cannabis.
The new modus operandi comes to light within months of the crackdown on drugs abuse in colleges and universities where the police revealed how instant app-based package delivery services were being used for contraband peddling in the region.
The suspects were caught by the newly-formed specialised Crime Response Team (CRT) along with Sector 20 police station officials in the early hours of Thursday on the basis of a tip-off, the police said.
Those held have been identified as Vikas Sharma, who lives in Ghaziabad, and Kapil Chaudhary, a native of Bijnor, a senior official said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Vidya Sagar Mishra said the police have seized 102 kg of cannabis estimated worth Rs 25 lakh in the black market from the accused and impounded their Mahindra Scorpio.
"One of the accused (Kapil) also has a criminal history and is under trial in a murder case (of 2013). Both the accused are related to each other and have been involved in such crimes in the past as well," Mishra told reporters here.
"During probe, they revealed that they booked the car using the Zoom app and we are investigating in detail how they used to book cars and use them. The material recovered from them is worth around Rs 25 lakh and was meant for supply in NCR," the officer said.
He said the accused have told police that they procured cannabis from Sambalpur district in Odisha and supplied it to their clients here, adding that an investigation is underway to find more details about their clientele.
"We had information about three members of the gang, of whom these two have been nabbed while efforts are on to arrest their third partner also," Mishra said.
On how the gang brought material to Noida, the officer said they used various means of transport to bring the cannabis here and then used rental cars for local supply.
An FIR has been lodged in the case at the Sector 20 police station under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the police added.
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