Indian police arrested five men for smuggling nearly 2,000 containers of liquor into Delhi using camels to evade checkpoints. The operation involved forest paths from neighboring Faridabad. Authorities seized the contraband and rescued the animals.
Delhi police announced on Tuesday that they had busted an illicit liquor smuggling racket on Monday. Officers recovered 1,938 containers of illegal alcohol transported by two camels over a four-mile forest stretch at night. The animals were rescued and handed over to the Delhi Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter, as reported by Hindustan Times. Police said the smuggler turned to forest routes after increased monitoring on highways between Faridabad in Haryana and Delhi, where alcohol taxes are higher. A statement from Delhi police noted: 'Staff... busted an illicit liquor smuggling racket using camels for transportation.' The same camels had been stopped last year for similar smuggling, according to Hindustan Times. Smugglers allegedly offloaded the liquor inside Delhi city boundaries and delivered it to clients using bicycle rickshaws. India faces ongoing challenges with bootlegging, including deaths from tainted alcohol spiked with methanol.