Bengaluru/Hyderabad, Jun 21 (IANS): In major crackdown on the illegal ganja (marijuana) trade, the Narcotics Control Bureau's Bengaluru Zone personnel made their largest-ever seizure, recovering over 2,000 kg of the narcotic from a truck in Hyderabad, officials said on Monday.

In a statement, NCB Zonal Director, Amith Ghawate, said that the seized drug, valued around Rs 15 crore, was stashed between cashew nut shells in the truck.

"The entire stockpile of ganja was individually concealed between loads of cashew nut shells. The accused had systematically compressed and packed two kg bricks in a plastic bag and all in all, we seized 1,080 such bricks in this raid alone," he said.

Ghawate said that the smugglers had procured such quantities to supply and distribute in Pune and Mumbai.

NCB Bengaluru and Hyderabad teams jointly nabbed four persons on Sunday from Pedda Amberpet toll plaza in Hyderabad and seized the ganja.

The arrested were identified as K. Kale, S. Kale, C. Kale and B. Dhoralkar, all hailing from Maharashtra's Osmanabad district.

Ghawate said that the Bengaluru team received tip-off about this illegal trade and formed a joint team to nab the accused.

According to the NCB, the illegal ganja cultivation is concentrated around Maoist-hit areas on the Andhra Pradesh and Odisha border. "Ganja from this region finds its way all over the country including cities like Delhi and Mumbai besides being smuggled across the ocean to Sri Lanka as well," the NCB stament said.