A massive consignment of cannabis worth approximately Rs 3 crores was caught in Tripura, a day before the counting begins in the state for the recently held assembly elections.

As per initial reports, the massive consignment was seized during a regular checking set up at Ganganagar area which falls under the Dhalai district of Tripura today.

This comes as counting for the assembly elections in the three northeastern states of Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya are set to take place tomorrow. Tripura was the first of the three states to head to polls on February 16, while elections in Nagaland and Meghalaya were held on February 27.

Based on a specific inputs of a possible smuggling bid, Tripura Police alongside Tripura State Rifles Jawans jointly set up a checkpoint at Ganganagar.

According to information received, officials were checking vehicles as they passed through the checkpoint on the national highway at Gandacherra in Dhalai, when two vehicles were intercepted from which police found the cannabis consignment. Police also detained four people in connection with the matter.

Tripura Police officials informed that the entire seizure weighing around 2,000 kilograms, was recovered from a container truck and a car at the checkpoint.

Moreover, the four youths detained in the case were taken in for questioning and further legal action against them will be pursued as per the law, officials added.

They also went on to estimate the entire seizure to be worth around Rs 3 crores in the international drug markets.

In December last year, another massive consignment of cannabis weighing around 400 kilograms was seized by police at Churaibari along the Assam-Tripura state border.

According to reports, Karimganj Police laid a trap based on specific information of a possible drug trafficking bid going down. In the operation, police intercepted a truck coming from Tripura.

The truck bearing registration numbers TR 01 C 1871, was checked by officials at the checking point upon which a total of 40 packages were recovered, which contained around 400 kilograms of cannabis.

Officials informed that the truck was coming in from Agartala and was headed to Assam. One person, the driver of the truck was arrested on charges of smuggling the cannabis, added police.