THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In what could be a major ganja haul in the state, a special squad of Kerala excise department has seized over 500 kilograms of ganja from a container truck at Korany near Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram early on Sunday.

The driver and cleaner of the truck who are North Indians were taken into custody. Sources close to Excise said the ganja was concealed in packets in the container. The seizure was following a tip-off received by the Excise range in Thiruvananthapuram.

According to Excise, the truck was coming from Mysuru and entered the state via Kannur for supplying the substances to various parts of the state. The truck reached Thiruvananthapuram to supply it to a dealer based in Chirayinkeezhu.

The Excise has begun tracing him. The excise sleuths said the consignment would be estimated around Rs 20 crore in the market and they suspect a Malayali group based in Mysuru in transporting this large quantity of ganja to the state. The officers said a probe has begun to find out the source of ganja.