Wayanad: Excise officials on Saturday seized 2 kilograms of ganja and 200 grams of MDMA, smuggled in a private bus disguised as a courier package aided by a GPS tracker, at the Tholpetty checkpost. The bus, A1 Travels (KA 51 AJ 3670), was travelling from Bengaluru to Thiruvananthapuram.  

The contraband, worth Rs 10 lakh, was concealed inside a cardboard box in the vehicle's luggage compartment. Officials identified Tirur in Malappuram as the delivery point and traced the recipient.  Investigation is underway to trace more individuals associated with the case.

"Smuggling such high-value substances without human escort is really uncommon. Smugglers are increasingly using modern techniques to bypass border checks," said Mananthavady Excise Circle Inspector Sajith Chandran higlighting the usage of GPS tracker. "While ganja has previously been seized without an escort, this is the first instance of unescorted MDMA being intercepted," he added.  

The operation was led by Inspector Sajith Chandran, with support from officers Anil Kumar, Johny K, Jineesh P R, Deepu A, Amal Thomas, Rajeevan K V, Sanoop K S, and Jaimon E S.