KOCHI: The Excise Department on Sunday seized 20 kg of ganja worth around Rs 6 lakh and arrested two Tamil Nadu natives in this connection.
The arrested are Suresh Perumal Tevar,38, and Mari Raja Sadayandi Tevar, 31, both natives of Theni in Tamil Nadu. According to the Excise officers, they were engaged in smuggling ganja from Andhra Pradesh border to the city.
Acting on a tip-off, the team led by Excise Circle Inspector T S Sasi Kumar arrested Suresh while he was attempting to hand over 10 kg of the contraband to an agent at the ‘Pay and Park’ lot of Marine Drive early Sunday morning.
"During interrogation, Suresh revealed that he was engaged in smuggling ganja sourced from East Godavari region in Vishakapatnam to the agents here. He also revealed the name of his aide who coming to the city with another consignment. We laid a trap and arrested Mari Raja from outside the North Railway station around 11 am. Around 10 kg of ganja was seized from him," said an Excise officer.
A kilogram of ganja is sold at Rs 25, 000 to Rs 30, 000. "The accused often makes deals with agents through WhatsApp and ensured that they do not speak on the phone so as to escape from the cops,” the officer said.