Neemuch (Madhya Pradesh): In continuance of Anti-Drug operations, Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), Neemuch recovered 241.950 kg of poppy straw from a specially built cavity in oil tanker in Malhargarh on Saturday.

As per reports, officials received specific intelligence that a person in the tanker having registration number of Haryana, would be smuggling illicit poppy straw and heading towards Pipliyamandi Toll.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of CBN officials was formed and dispatched in the early hours of Friday. Strict surveillance on Neemuch-Mandsaur Highway was kept and the vehicle was intercepted at PipliyaMandi Toll Plaza.

Officials intercepted a suspicious tanker near Pipliyamandi Toll Naka and during its search found poppy straw concealed in one of its empty chambers below the tanker, an officer said. The poppy straw was being smuggled to Punjab from Neemuch, he said.

After completion of legal formalities, recovered contraband along with the vehicle was impounded and the smuggler was arrested under relevant sections of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act). Further investigation was in progress to ascertain the source and other persons involved in smuggling of contraband.