Police seized a total of 258 kg of dry ganja on Varushannadu Main Road and at Karattupatti village near Kadamalaigundu and arrested four persons in this connection, said Superintendent of Police V. Baskaran.
Talking to press persons here on Sunday, he said a special team, led by Sub-Inspector Sakthivel, intercepted two cars on Varushandu Main Road on Saturday night. But the occupants of the cars attacked the SI and tried to escape. The special team caught them after a hot chase, and seized ganja in 19 packets, each weighing two kg, from them.
Four persons from Kerala – R. Prasad, (27) of Kollam, R. Lipin (27) of Thiruvanathanpuram, V. Ajith (21) of Kochi and Jahana (26) of Kottayam – were arrested. The two cars used for smuggling ganja were also seized.
After a preliminary interrogation, the police raided a farm owned by a major ganja smuggler, Murugan (42) of Andipatti, at Karatupatti village and seized ganja kept in 110 packets, each weighing two kg. The narcotic substance was hoarded in a shed. The police were in search of two more persons, including Murugan, in this connection, the SP said.
The Kerala-based gang had been procuring ganja from Murugan regularly. Murugan had been getting it from Andhra Pradesh and smuggling it to Kerala through Theni district.
With drought getting acute, ganja was not illegally cultivated in Idukki district in Kerala. Farm workers migrated to Andhra Pradesh to raise ganja plants. They had tie-ups with ganja peddlers in Theni to smuggle it to Kerala.
The district police, along with Narcotics Intelligence Bureau sleuths, had intensified surveillance against ganja smugglers and sellers. A total of 27 persons were detained under the Goondas Act last year, and 18 of them were ganja smugglers. Four persons were detained under the Act till February end this year, and three of them were ganja smugglers, the SP said.
