Bengaluru:

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Monday said it busted a cannabis trafficking network by arresting eight people and seizing 681.8 kg of contraband.

According to the NCB, acting on specific intelligence inputs by NCB Bengaluru, the Hyderabad sub-zonal unit intercepted three cars near Pedda Amberpet Toll Plaza, Rangareddy District in Telangana and seized the contraband.

The NCB said the consignment was concealed in compressed form, kept in 335 brick like packets and wrapped with brown colour adhesive tapes.

A syndicate of eight people used to source cannabis in huge quantities from Visakhapatnam and distribute it in various parts of Pune and Osmanabad in Maharashtra.

It added that the illegal cannabis cultivation in India is largely concentrated around the maoist infected regions of Andhra and Odisha border.

Cannabis from this region finds its way to all over the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and is smuggled across the ocean to Sri Lanka.

Difficult terrain and inaccessibility make this area difficult for the law enforcement agencies to conduct destruction of illicit cannabis cultivation, the NCB said.

The Burea said another major cannabis cultivation region in India is the hilly terrains of Himachal Pradesh.

Northeastern states are also vulnerable to cannabis cultivation due to its unique geographical conditions, according to the NCB.