Raids yield 173kg ganja, 8 arrested

CHENNAI: Narcotics intelligence bureau sleuths conducted three surprise checks in Chennai and Madurai and seized 173kg of ganja. Eight people were arrested. They also impounded a car and an autorickshaw, and launched a hunt for three more accused. The accused had procured the contraband from villages on the borders of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.
Acting on a tip-off, sleuths laid a trap and arrested three people near Wall Tax Road in Elephant Gate.Police intercepted an autorickshaw. During inspection, they recovered 21kg of ganja. Police arrested ganja peddler Aaasai from Cumbam, middleman Baskaran from Mylapore, and auto driver Immanuel from Srinivasapuram.
In another incident, police teams nabbed Deivam, another peddler from Theni, and recovered 4kg of ganja from him. In the third incident, police intercepted a vehicle near Madurai on Wednesday. “On spotting the police, the occupants tried to flee and were nabbed after a brief chase. We seized 148kg of ganja from them,” said SP (NIBCID) M Vijayakumari.
Police arrested Murugan, Vetriselvan, Jayakumar and Selvam. They have launched a hunt for the vehicle owner and other two persons, who placed the order for the contraband. ACP (NIB-CID) K Athiveera Pandian said, “The accused take orders from buyers and go to villages in Andhra Pradesh, where they buy ganja. They pack them into packages weighing 1-2kg each and spray scented powder on the packets to mask the odour.” During questioning, the men said they got the consignment from Padagiri village near Vishakapatnam and brought it to Chennai on trains and buses. “As there are more police on patrol in Central railway station, they got down at earlier stations and took buses,” a police officer said.