In one of the major drug hauls in recent times in the State, the Excise Enforcement Squad seized 23 kg of hashish oil from a car coming from Tamil Nadu at Nombikkode, near Elappully, in the district in the early hours of Wednesday. The drug is worth more than ₹22 crore in the international market.
Acting on a tip-off, the enforcement squad intercepted the car with the registration number AP 31BD 6068 on the Palakkad-Pollachi Highway and found the huge quantity of the hashish oil hidden in the car’s door panels. Anoop George alias Kochu, 35, son of Varkey Joseph from Prathodu, Idukki, was arrested, when three others in the car managed to escape.
Excise officials said that those who escaped were from Idukki. A search is on for the trio.
Big cartel
Excise officials said that a big cartel was behind the processing of hashish oil from ganja. On questioning Anoop, the Excise officials found that the hashish oil was made out of the huge quantity of ganja procured from Visakhapatnam. The ganja had reportedly been bought for ₹1 lakh a kg.
The seizure was effected by a squad comprising Circle Inspectors T. Anil Kumar and P.K. Satheesh, inspectors K.V. Vinod and M. Sajeev Kumar, assistant inspectors T.R. Mukesh Kumar and Shoukath Ali, C. Senthil Kumar, and civil excise officers A. Jaseem, P. Subin, T.S. Anil Kumar, and S. Rajesh.
Huge amounts
Hashish oil is made by processing ganja. When a kilogram of ganja is processed, they hardly get 100 gm of hashish oil. But the oil fetches huge amounts in the international market and is easier to carry than ganja.
Excise units across the State have been on enhanced vigil as drug-peddlers have been found procuring ganja and other drugs in view of upcoming festival seasons.
