Some offline scouting for customers, then a quick transaction over the phone and payment via UPI app, followed by home-delivery using a courier app. That’s how a ganja (marijuana) gang busted in Noida delivered its “maal (stuff)”, police said. It was all neatly disguised as packages from popular e-commerce platforms, complete with their boxes and tapes with logos, a probe has revealed.
All this while, the delivery person would not know what he’s actually delivering, police said after arresting three men on Saturday, November 29.
The gang allegedly made fake bills for legal goods to go along with the illegal consignment, as per an Aaj Tak report. And if the courier was ever intercepted, the delivery person would first be at the centre of the case, is how they planned it, said DCP Yamuna Prasad, reported Live Hindustan.
The Noida Sector-113 Police busted this drug-trafficking ring with the arrest of the mastermind and two others from Sector 123. This led them to 10.1 kilograms of ganja and the packing material. DCP Prasad said the estimated price of the ganja on the black market would be “around ₹30 lakh”.
The seized ganja included strains sold under brand names such as OG, Mango and Shillong.
How ganja delivery gang worked: Modus operandi, step by step
- According to the police, the first step in their operation involved targeted customer acquisition. Gang members would approach potential buyers “near colleges and corporate offices” during lunch or break times. They would offer to supply ganja and provide their phone numbers to interested individuals.
- Once a customer was secured, the transaction was conducted entirely through digital means. Customers placed their orders and shared their delivery location using online delivery apps such as Porter, said the DCP. The payment was also handled online.
- To move the contraband, the gang used a deceptive packaging technique. They utilised bags and materials that mimicked that of e-commerce companies such as Amazon, the DCP reportedly said. “They also included fake order receipts. The ganja was meticulously packaged to appear indistinguishable from legitimate goods being shipped by a major brand,” he added.
The evasion trick
The gang had a calculated strategy to avoid there being a direct chain. After receiving an order and packaging the drugs, the suppliers would book a third-party rider (delivery agent) through an app.
DCP Yamuna Prasad said the group’s strategy was to ensure that “if the delivery rider was caught en route, the rider would be implicated, allowing the genuine suppliers to escape”. This was their layer of plausible deniability.
Police identified the arrested individuals as the gang leader, Yogendra Pratap Singh, a resident of Kannauj; along with Suraj alias Rudra of Nalanda, Bihar; and Shivkesh Tripathi of Hardoi.
DCP Yamuna Prasad said the mastermind Singh previously worked at a private company in Noida. “After observing drug use among people there, he decided to initiate the ganja supply business himself, eventually building an extensive NCR network.”
Engaged in ganja trade for five years, Singh has previously been arrested on similar charges but was on bail.
All three accused have been sent to jail, and police are continuing their investigation to trace other individuals linked to this network. Ganja is illegal under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and offences carry up to 10 years of jail.
Where they got the ganja from
The three men had currently rented rooms in different parts of the city.
The marijuana recovered from the accused is of “high quality” and costs five times more than regular marijuana.
The gang leader sourced the marijuana from Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Nepal, and Shillong in Meghalaya, police said.
