Cops seize 31kg of ganja sent from Andhra via courier

Kochi: Drug cartels seem to have found a fresh and innovative way to smuggle in ganja into the district, as Ernakulam Rural police on Monday seized nearly 31kg of ganja which was sent to Perumbavoor from Andhra Pradesh through a courier service.

Police arrested two persons in connection with the seizure when they turned up at the office of the courier agency at Kunnuvazhy in Perumbavoor to collect the parcel. The arrested persons were identified as Muhammed Muneer, 27, of Kothamangalam and Arshad Pathanaayath, 35, of MES College Road, Marambally.

Earlier, excise and central agencies had found that courier services were being used by drug runners to smuggle in synthetic drugs. However, seizure of such a huge quantity of ganja from a courier parcel is unheard of.

Rural police said a specific information received by district police chief (Ernakulam Rural) SP K Karthick led to the seizure.

Police said the parcel has come from Andhra Pradesh and an investigation was on to find the sender. According to police, the contraband was smuggled in with the intention of distributing it to other parts of the district and state.

Officers said the parcel came in three packages and each had the contraband stashed in it in small packets. Rural police said a special team, including district anti-narcotic special action task force (Dansaf) and Perumbavoor police, was formed to conduct the investigation.

The team which made the seizure included narcotic cell DSP Zakkariya Mathew, Perumbavoor inspector Ranjith Raj and personnel of Dansaf.

“We have launched a comprehensive probe to find if the accused had received similar couriers in the past. Possibility of more accused being involved would also be checked,” said SP Karthick.

Rural police had recently made huge ganja seizures, including a 105kg seizure from Angamaly and 35kg seizure from Aavoli. Ganja came from Andhra Pradesh in these two cases as well. Investigation is ongoing in these two cases.

In July, a Thrissur native was arrested by police from Kochi for allegedly procuring 18g of MDMA via courier service. As many as 700 LSD stamps, also brought in via courier service, were seized from a gang in Kochi in March by the City police.


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