Noida Police bust a racket of cannabis cultivation from an apartment in Noida

The police raided a flat on the 10th floor of Parsvnath Panorama Society after they received inputs regarding the illegal cultivation of cannabis plants inside one of the apartments. 

The  police arrested Rahul Choudhary (43) who was living alone in the flat and illegally cultivating cannabis and selling them via the dark web. 

The police received a tip-off that Choudhary was going to hand over a consignment to a customer. The police formed teams to raid and arrest him. However, when the teams reached there they saw an entire cultivation of cannabis running from an apartment. 

The police arrested Choudhary from a spot where he had arrived to hand over a packet to a customer. During questioning, he confessed to police that he grew the cannabis inside his flat. 

The police stated that there were around 80 cannabis plants worth Rs 50 lakh to 60 lakh, ganja, OG (a type of weed), various chemicals and fertilisers, and seeds and equipment used in cultivation,” said a police officer.

The police further said that the accused was using artificial light and had fixed his air conditioner at the required room temperature. He used to order seeds were online through a foreign website, Seedsman. He made payment through PayPal. This was his first harvest in the flat. The accused used to arrange customers through the dark web and grabbed the deals. 

According to the police, Choudhary has a post-graduate degree in English. He used to run an eatery in Greater Noida which shut down during the Covid pandemic. This is when he started to explore the dark web, watch movies and read books on cannabis cultivation. 

During the raid, police said, they recovered 2.070 grams of illegal cannabis and 163.4 grams of OG. Choudhary has been booked under Section 20 of the NDPS Act.