Police seized over a quintal of cannabis estimated at Rs 10 lakh from a pick-up van in Malda on Thursday evening.

Hirak Biswas, the inspector-in-charge of Malda police station, said the narcotic, weighing around 112.65 kilos, was on its way to Barrackpore in North 24-Parganas from Cooch Behar.

“We intercepted the vehicle on NH12 while it was crossing Malda. As we searched the vehicle, we found the cannabis wrapped in a package and were concealed under heaps of pineapples. The driver of the vehicle has been arrested. Charges have been brought against him under the NDPS Act,” Biswas said.

The person arrested has been identified as Mithun Burman, a resident of Kukurkuchua village under Sahebganj police station of Cooch Behar district.

The estimated price of the seized cannabis is around Rs 10 lakh, sources said.

“The police in Cooch Behar have launched a crackdown to stop illegal cultivation of cannabis, which is why the drug smugglers are trying to sent the narcotics to other districts to prevent seizure,” said a source.

In another incident in Cooch Behar, a team of Buxirhat police station acted on a tip off and seized illegal timber from a truck that had entered the district from Assam on Thursday night.

Police sources said they intercepted the truck that was heading towards Rajasthan and made the seizure.

“The driver and the cleaner of the truck could not furnish us proper documents to validate transportation of the timber. We have arrested them and seized the timber and the truck,” said a police officer.

“Altogether, 1,305 pieces of wooden logs, measuring around four feet by seven feet, which measure around 900 cubic feet, have been seized. We have contacted the state forest department to identify the timber and also ascertain its value,” the police officer added.