5 kg charas in knee caps under sarees, 2 women held at UP station: DRI officials

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials have arrested three people, including two women, and seized 5.088 kg of Nepal-origin charas (cannabis) worth around ₹5.08 crore from them at Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur railway station, officials said on Friday.

The contraband was allegedly concealed in knee caps wrapped around the women’s thighs and hidden under their sarees. The trio were travelling on the Amarnath Express from Bihar’s Sugauli to Ludhiana in Punjab, officials said.

The unusual concealment allegedly allowed the packets to remain concealed against their bodies during the train journey, the officials added.

Acting on specific intelligence, a DRI team intercepted the three passengers late on Thursday. During a personal search, officials found 11 packets of a blackish substance concealed inside knee caps wrapped around the women’s thighs and hidden beneath their sarees. The substance tested positive for charas on a field-testing kit, the DRI officials said.

The agency identified it as Nepal-origin charas, which it said commands high demand in illicit drug markets.

The contraband was seized under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and all three passengers were arrested for their alleged involvement in trafficking.

The DRI is now probing the source of the charas, its intended destination and the wider network involved in transporting the consignment.

The seizure is part of the agency’s continuing crackdown on cross-border narcotics trafficking through the region, officials said.