The Excise Department on Wednesday arrested three persons on the charge of smuggling in 35 kg of ganja, valued around ₹12 lakh, from Andhra Pradesh on a national permit lorry at Aluva town.
The seizure was made during the course of a special festive season vehicle checking drive. The arrested are Hakkim from Kozhikode and Ahammad Kabeer and Jaffer from Pattambi.
The key accused, Shameer Babu of Thrissur, who helped source the ganja is at large, Excise officials said.
“The contraband was sourced from Rajamahendravaram in Andhra Pradesh and smuggled into Kerala via Karnataka and Tamil Nadu undetected on account of slack enforcement in those States. The gang was suspected to have smuggled in ganja to Kerala before, since those who are new to the trade are likely to manage such large volume of ganja from Andhra Pradesh,” said Ashok Kumar, Deputy Excise Commissioner, Ernakulam. He added that the gang would have earned more than double the investment in the contraband, had they managed to sell it in smaller lots.
The drug was found in machine-pressed plastic-wrapped packs of nearly 2 kg each. They were hidden beneath the bench behind the driver’s seat.
“The lorry was on its way to Kochi when we intercepted it. According to the accused, the contraband was to be delivered to a person in the city with whom a deal had been struck,” said Sojan Sebastian, Excise Circle Inspector, Aluva, whose team made the seizure. The client, though, is yet to be traced.
The team comprised Preventive Officers C.B. Ranju, K.M. Anilkumar, and P.K. Gopi, civil excise officers M.M. Arunkumar, P.S. Basanthkumar, P.G. Anoop, Akhil, and Sajo Varghese.
The accused will be produced in court and remanded after the customary COVID-19 test.