Man arrested after using camels to smuggle illicit liquor into Delhi
One man seeking to smuggle thousands of liquor bottles into Delhi using camels met a hump in the road when he was arrested by the police, with the two animals and stash of contraband booze subsequently seized.
As part of the journey, the desert animals carried the liquor through ‘forest routes’ from the neighbouring city of Faridabad in Haryana state across state lines into the Indian capital, where taxes on alcohol are far higher.
Authorities said the smuggler opted to travel on forest paths using camels to avoid road checkpoints and border surveillance, after police ranked up monitoring along the highways between Faridabad and Delhi.
Delhi police took to social media to announce that a whopping 1,938 containers of illegal alcohol were seized.
“Staff… busted an illicit liquor smuggling racket using camels for transportation,” police said in a statement after the arrests on Monday. “The contraband was seized and the camels were rescued and handed over to concerned authorities.”
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Officials said the smuggler opted to use camels to traipse through a four-mile stretch of rugged forest terrain in a bid to bypass police pickets.
The two animals were subsequently taken to the Delhi Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter.
It’s not the first time the camels have been caught smuggling. The humped duo were also stopped for carrying alcohol in 2025, according to The Hindustan Times.
As part of such schemes, the smugglers reportedly offload the contraband once inside the boundaries of the city, before using bicycle rickshaws to deliver the drinks to clients.
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