A 22-year-old man, identified as Ranjith, a native of Konni, was arrested by the Kollam Excise Enforcement and Anti-Narcotic Special Squad from Kottiyam on Thursday morning for allegedly being in possession of 1.75 kg of cannabis (ganja).
Excise Circle Inspector K. Thajudeen Kutty, who headed the squad, said the cannabis seized from Ranjith will fetch more than Rs. 1 lakh in the dope market.
His usual source of cannabis was the Kumbam-Theni belt in Tamil Nadu. But with inspections becoming very strict at the check-posts of late, he had sourced the seized cannabis through a Kollam native identified as Hyder Farooq, Mr. Thajudeen Kutty said.
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Though Farooq is at large, he has been booked as accused number two in the case.
Ranjith also works as cleaner in a private transport bus and used that job also to cater to drug addicts. Earlier he had been arrested by the police for allegedly being involved in theft cases.
Ranjith, who was arrested on directions from Assistant Excise Commissioner (Kollam) G. Radhakrishna Pillai, was later produced before a magistrate court here and remanded in the district jail.
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Meanwhile, in a separate drive, an excise team of the Kollam range led by Inspector A. Anil Kumar on Thursday arrested one Premraj after seizing 200 small packets of ganja from him.
He was arrested from Kureepuzha on the outskirts of the city. Mr. Anil Kumar said that Premraj used to mainly peddle ganja to addicts visiting the resorts on the Kureepuzha belt.
He also had students and migrant workers as his clients. Premraj was also later in the day produced before a magistrate court here and remanded to the district jail
Ranjith worked as cleaner in a private transport bus and used that job to cater to drug addicts