Excise officers at the Cumbom Mettu check-post bordering Tamil Nadu on Friday seized narcotic candies covered in colourful packs.
Nikilesh Davan, 28, a resident of Bihar, was arrested following the seizure during a routine check.
According to the excise officers, it is for the first time in the State that such candies were seized. The candies were meant for distribution among students, they said. One kilogram of banned tobacco products and 10 kg of cannabis were also seized.
The arrested was travelling in a bus. The candies containing narcotics were found in his bag during a search by the officers. Though he tried to run away, he was chased and arrested by the team.
It is suspected that ganja oil was added to factory-made chocolates at Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
On the cover, it was labelled Indian heb (meaning ganja) and cannabis. The arrested said he was to hand over the products to a person at Thookkupalam in the district.
There were reports that some students who had purchased candies from a shop at Nedumkandam had complained of uneasiness after consuming them.
The Excise Department has received information that the ganja lobby was adopting new methods to attract students to narcotic substances.
