Police in Delhi, India, have arrested a man accused of smuggling alcohol into the city using camels to avoid tax checkpoints, CBS News reported Tuesday.

Authorities said they seized 1,938 containers of illegal liquor and took custody of two camels used in the operation. The arrests were made Monday following an investigation into cross-border smuggling from Faridabad in the neighboring state of Haryana.

Delhi police said the suspects used forest routes to bypass heightened highway monitoring between Faridabad and the capital. “Staff… busted an illicit liquor smuggling racket using camels for transportation,” police said in a statement shared on X Tuesday. “The contraband was seized and the camels were rescued and handed over to concerned authorities.”

The camels were used to carry alcohol across state lines, where taxes in Delhi are significantly higher than in Haryana. According to the Hindustan Times, the group transported liquor at night over a roughly four-mile stretch before distributing it within city limits.

The Hindustan Times also reported that five men were involved in the operation and that the same camels had previously been intercepted in a similar smuggling attempt last year.

Once inside Delhi, the alcohol was offloaded and delivered to customers using bicycle rickshaws, the newspaper reported.

Following the seizure, the animals were transferred to a shelter operated by the Delhi Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, according to the Hindustan Times.

India has long faced challenges tied to illegal alcohol. Hundreds of people die each year from consuming illicit liquor produced outside regulated systems. These products are often sold at low prices and may be adulterated with methanol, which can cause blindness, organ damage or death.

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