It looked like a legitimate business when a group of individuals, earlier this year, registered with a leading e-commerce platform to sell their products. The hero product was the iconic Sambalpuri saree known for its double Ikat tie and dye technique and symbolic motifs.

Orders came in from different parts of the country, parcels went out and nothing seemed unusual for months until recently when the Balangir police in Odisha received a tip-off on what lay within the folds of the saree.

On Wednesday, police arrested seven men and seized 113 kg of ganja hidden in the saree boxes as they were on their way to the nearest logistics centre. Police said two of the arrested persons were masterminds of the operation that had tapped into a loophole in the e-commerce business: The consignments not being scanned for their contents before being shipped out for delivery.

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Cannabis procured from Kandhamal

The accused, most of them in their 30s, procured cannabis from interior areas of the bordering Kandhamal district, neatly packed it, generated QR code with the help of the e-commerce platform, and delivered it at the nearest logistic centre in Balangir after receiving money from the buyers, said Balangir Superintendent of Police Abilash G.

“The accused used this new modus operandi as the delivery partner had no way of knowing what was actually inside the sealed parcel. The present lot, which we have seized, was being sent to Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. They disguised Ganja consignments as saree orders, allowing the contraband to move through the e-commerce platform without raising suspicion,” said the Balangir SP.

According to the Balangir SP, the accused learned the modus operandi from the buyers, who came to the district to train the accused on the techniques for transportation of the contraband.

They were using the legal platform to transport illegal product, he added.

Police sources said at least 10 boxes were seized, each containing 10 smaller boxes, in which the contraband was allegedly concealed.

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Investigation, including scanning of CCTV footage, revealed that the gang had used similar modus operandi four to five times earlier to transport cannabis to different parts of the country.

The investigation revealed that the logistic centre had no details about the sellers except their CCTV footage as they scanned the QR code and sent out the consignment. “Once the consignment reaches the last location, the delivery agent only scans the QR code for the address and delivers it like a normal parcel. The law enforcement agency had no scope of knowing about the illegal operation,” said an official.

‘Training’ camp in Balangir

According to the Balangir SP, the accused learned the modus operandi from the buyers, who came to the district to train the accused on the techniques for transportation of the contraband.

When asked whether the police would issue notice to the e-commerce platform, the Balangir SP said they are exploring legal aspects of the case. He said that the logistics centre at Balangir has been directed to employ the scanning procedure used by CISF personnel at the airport to know what is inside the sealed parcel.

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Odisha is a primary source hub for illegal cannabis cultivation and trafficking, supplying major inter-state syndicates connected to Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Goa, police sources said.

In the recent past, police have also launched special drives using drones to destroy illegal Ganja cultivation in the interior pockets of tribal-dominated districts. Odisha Police recently said that it destroyed more than 108 metric tonnes of seized ganja, valued at around Rs 544 crore, during a special drive conducted in June-July.