Jammu, Mar 3: In one of the biggest narcotic haul, Jammu and Kashmir Excise Department recovered 1.5 quintal of cannabis and 21 quintal of poppy straw from two trucks at Lakhanpur area on Wednesday.
 Official sources said the smugglers could not be apprehended as they managed to flee from the spot. However, police was investigating the matter and was hopeful to trace the accused.
 Giving details of the recovery Deputy Manager, Excise Department at Lakhanpur, Bashir Ahmed told Greater Kashmir that acting on a tip off, sleuths of Excise Department intercepted two trucks (RJ13G-5590) and (JK03A-8306), carrying electronic goods to Punjab and Rajasthan.
 As the officials checked the trucks, its driver and some other persons sitting in the vehicle fled from the spot, he said adding, later “around 148 kilogram of charas and 21 quintal of poppy was recovered from both the trucks, which was kept in jute bags under the electronic goods.”
 The drug haul was recovered a day after police seized 900 kg of poppy from a truck that had crossed the Lakhanpur toll post safely. Later the Excise department blamed police for allegedly interfering in their areas of responsibility and lodged protests.
 The DM said one of the truck was on way to Punjab while another was on way to Rajasthan. It was learnt that the registration number of one of the truck was fake, he said adding, however, the original documents had been recovered from the vehicle and handed over to police for further investigation.
 Police said it was on job to identify the owners of the truck so as to bust the entire gang involved in the smuggling of narcotics.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 3 Mar 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 3 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 4 Mar 2010 00:00:00 IST