KOCHI: The borders of Idukki district are turning out to be prime spots for ganja smuggling, with a high number of consignments being detected these days. According to the police, the racketeers are making use of youths, who act as carriers, to bring ganja from Kambam and Theni in Tamil Nadu to Kochi via Idukki.
In August this year, the police arrested two youths coming from Tamil Nadu on a bike carrying ganja. It was following detailed interrogation that it was found that the youths were lured by the remuneration offered by the racketeers. “As two-wheelers are not checked at the border checkpost, the racketeers make use of youths belonging to financially weak families for transportation purpose. For bringing some 5-7 kg of ganja, they get Rs 5,000 as remuneration. Bikes would be provided by the racketeers. In most cases, the bikes would be stolen ones with fake registration numbers,” said an Excise official.
According to him, the ganja is mostly brought through road from Idukki for increasing its price in the illegal market. “The main supply of ganja is from Andhra, Telangana, Odisha and Tamil Nadu. To make the buyers believe that the ganja provided to them is ‘Neelachadayan’ or ‘Idukki gold’ (ganja cultivated in Idukki), the ganja from other states is brought via Idukki. Some racketeers bring the substance through rail route,” the Excise official said.