The Madhya Pradesh police have summoned top executives of US retail giant Amazon.com Inc in India as investigations have revealed that the e-commerce platform has allegedly been used for smuggling marijuana, a police official said on Monday.
The police on Sunday arrested two men in Madhya Pradesh with 20 kg of marijuana and found the contraband drug consignment was sourced from Visakhapatnam using the Amazon platform.
“Subsequent investigation has revealed that they had been sourcing the contraband narcotic substance using the Amazon platform for the last four months during which one tonne of marijuana has been obtained by them with monetary transactions worth Rs 1.10 crore being carried out,” Bhind district police superintendent Manoj Kumar Singh told journalists.
Smugglers used the Amazon India platform to order and deliver the drug, which was listed under the guise of dry stevia leaves, a natural food sweetener, according to the police.
Singh said Amazon executives have been asked to explain how their platform could be used for the sale of banned substances.
"The international company has the power of artificial intelligence, so it's a big thing happening on their platform," Mr Singh said. "There is involvement of Amazon at many levels in this marijuana delivery – from providing logistical support to delivery."
Singh also said his team also visited one of Amazon's delivery hubs in Gwalior city in Madhya Pradesh as part of the investigation to get details of alleged marijuana delivery consignments.
Based on the duo’s grilling, an aide of the arrested men has been picked up for questioning from Haridwar in Uttarakhand.
An Amazon spokesperson said in a statement it was investigating whether there was any non-compliance by a seller.
"We do not allow the listing and sale of products which are prohibited under law to be sold in India," the statement said, adding the company would cooperate with the authorities.
The US tech giant, a marketplace website in India where sellers can list their products and Amazon also provides logistics and warehouse servicing to them.
