Delhi Police arrested a man for smuggling nearly 1,938 containers of illegal liquor into the Indian capital using camels that carried the contraband along forest routes from Faridabad in the neighboring state of Haryana. Officers also seized two camels used in the smuggling operation, according to a Delhi Police social media post.

The arrest came after police investigated how illegal alcohol continued to enter Delhi despite increased law enforcement monitoring along the highways connecting Faridabad and the capital. The smuggler turned to forest paths and camels to avoid road checkpoints that authorities had established along those highway corridors, according to police. Five men allegedly used the two camels to transport the liquor containers over a four-mile forest stretch under cover of night, police said, ferrying the loads through terrain where vehicles could not easily travel.

Once the camels crossed into Delhi's city boundaries, the smugglers offloaded the contraband and delivered the alcohol to clients using bicycle rickshaws, a distribution method that allowed the final leg of the supply chain to blend into the capital's dense urban traffic.

Delhi imposes higher taxes on alcohol than Haryana, making smuggled liquor from across the state border cheaper for buyers in the capital. Bootleggers sell cheap alcohol at reduced prices to consumers without paying taxes to the government.

The two camels seized in the operation were not new to the illegal trade. The same animals had been stopped the previous year in connection with alcohol smuggling. Following the latest seizure, police rescued the camels and handed them over to concerned authorities, according to a police statement. The animals were subsequently brought to the Delhi Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter for care.

Hundreds of people die each year in India from drinking cheap alcohol made in backstreet distilleries. Bootleggers often spike liquor with methanol to increase its potency, and methanol consumption can cause blindness, liver damage and death.