A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the seizure of 31 kgs of ganja smuggled in as a parcel through a courier company in Perumbavoor on Monday.
District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) K. Karthik formed the SIT headed by the Perumbavoor DySP. Two persons were also arrested in the joint raid conducted by the rural police and the District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force.
“We have picked up two more suspects from the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh border in connection with the case. They were Malayalis who had reportedly gone to Andhra Pradesh to procure ganja and their arrests will be recorded once they are brought here. We are expecting to make more arrests in the coming days,” said Mr. Karthik.
While smuggling in of synthetic drugs through couriers is nothing new, this is probably for the first time such a route is being adopted for ganja, at least in Ernakulam rural limits. “We are now planning to keep a close eye on courier firms and even probe the possibility of similar couriers being made by the same racket in the past,” said Mr. Karthik.
Though in the instant case, the parcel was found couriered from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, it could have been originally sourced from somewhere else. The police are probing the address and the number given for contact on the parcel. The person to whom the courier was addressed wasn't the one who came to collect it.
Whether the arrested themselves had sent it as a parcel from Andhra Pradesh also remains to be verified since that was a lot safer considering the extensive checking to be evaded if it was to be smuggled in personally.
The rural police are also planning to attach the properties of the accused involved in NDPS cases.
Meanwhile, the accused were produced in court and remanded.
