Bengaluru, May 18 (IANS): The Bengaluru Police on Monday arrested an inter-state drug smuggler and seized 20 kg marijuana valued at around Rs 6 lakh from his possession, the police said.

According to the police, the accused has been identified as Subba Reddy aka Subbu (42), a resident of Nagawara in Bengaluru.

The police said in a statement that the accused had modified his Honda City car's backseat and the stepney wheel portion in the dickey to conceal and transport the banned substance.

Subbu originally hails from Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh and preliminary investigation suggests that he used to divide his time between his home in Nellore and Bengaluru.

"The accused has a well connected-network in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, from where he used to procure marijuana at Rs 10,000 per kg and sell them to peddlers in Bengaluru for around Rs 25,000 a kg," the police statement read.

It added that Subbu not only transported huge quantities of marijuana concealed in his car, but also used goods vehicles to transport the drug from Visakhapatnam.

"He was probably using the lacunae in the lockdown protocols. As per these protocols, inter-state borders are giving free passage to goods carrying vehicles and the checking is also not very strict. Therefore, he is suspected to have brought in huge quantities of this banned substance since the partial lockdown was announced on April 27," the police said.