Excise sleuths have seized around 1,500 litres of spirit worth Rs. five lakh from two vehicles near here.
Acting on a tip-off received by Thrissur Excise Intelligence Wing, the sleuths intercepted a car near Viyyur Central Jail on Friday night.
Around 245 litres of spirit stored in seven cans were recovered from the car. It was hidden in a special chamber under the seat. Two persons, Reni, 33, of Chanthappady, and Sumith, 32, of Valappad, were taken into custody from the car. From the information got from the two persons, the excise team seized around 1,250 litres of spirit stored in a secret chamber of a lorry from Kolazhy.
The spirit worth Rs. 4 lakh was stored in 35 cans. Two persons in the lorry, Lalji, 60, of Kodungallur and Shafnas, 22, of Thaikkad, were taken into custody.
Excise officials received information that spirit has been smuggled from Puducherry to the State in specially arranged vehicles.
As there are excise check- posts at Alathoor and Parali, the spirit mafia has been using new routes for smuggling, according to excise officials.