Wayanad: The Thirunelli Police foiled a bid to smuggle banned tobacco products into Kerala under the guise of transporting vegetables for the Onam season.
The police confiscated 57 sacs of tobacco packets (locally known as Hans) during a vehicle check at the Kattikulam inter-state check-post Thursday night.
The driver of the truck, Nottanveettil Shouhan Surbaz (27), a native of Valad near Mananthavady, was on Friday produced before a magistrate court that granted him bail.
According to the police, the driver tried to dissuade them from inspecting the contents of the truck by saying they will have to re-load the vegetables.
Sub Inspector CR Anilkumar, who was part of the team headed by Inspector G Vishnu, said they acted on a hunch and did a thorough examination of the truck.
The police discovered the tobacco sacs under several layers of vegetables. There were 56,250 packets of the banned tobacco products in the truck, which the police said was one of the largest seizures of its kind at the check-post. The contraband was being transported from Bengaluru.
The police said that during the Onam season, hundreds of vegetable-laden trucks cross into Kerala from Karnataka through the check-posts at Kattikulam, Bavali and Muthanga.
According to the police, guest workers and youngsters are the potential customers of the smugglers.
