THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major operation against ganja sellers within the city limits here on Friday, five peddlers were arrested and a total 4.2 kg of the narcotic seized in three separate raids. The major haul has lent credence to reports of rampant drug abuse, especially, among the younger denizens.
Isakkimuthu alias Kanna, 25 and Rejin alias Kaalan Kannan, 29 both hailing from Rajaji Nagar and Balamurukan, 39 of Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu; Dominic of Menamkulam and Anandapadmanabhan, 23 of Attingal are those arrested.
According to the Cantonment police, the trio’s arrest came at the end of a a week-long surveillance mounted on Isakkimuthu, who was earlier involved in a slew of criminal cases. Police claimed they had information Isakkimuthu was into big-time ganja peddling and hence he was kept under the scanner.
On Wednesday, the shadow police noticed Isakkimuthu was not present at his house and had gone to Tamil Nadu from where he allegedly procured ganja. It was meant for youths and other drug users in and around Rajaji Nagar and Thampanoor.
Isakkimuthu also sought the help of Balamurugan to transport the contraband in a bus. Upon returning to the city on Thursday evening , the duo received Rejin, who was earlier involved in NDPS cases at the home of Isakkimuthu.When the police search party swooped down on the three in the wee hours of Friday, they were found filling ganja in small packets. Sub-Inspector B M Shafi said Isakkimuthu’s parents hailed from Tamil Nadu and he used that connection to procure the narcotic. The other two ganja seizures reported on Friday were both from the Kazhakoottam area.
The biggest haul of 2 kg of ganja was effected from Dominic, who provided ganja to the techies working in the locality. Sources said Dominic with the help of a fellow-Menamkulam native who is now settled in Bengaluru purchased the contraband in bulk and transported it to Kazhakoottam on inter-state buses and trains. Anandapadmanabhan, who had completed graduation from Bengaluru, was arrested from near Technopark. Though the amount of seized material was substantially less when compared to the other two cases, it was the quality of the ganja seized from the youngster which made the case a peculiar one.
According to the Excise sleuths, the ganja had its stem intact and it was for the first time in the city ganja with stem was seized. Known as ‘Mysore Mango’, the narcotic was sourced from Bengaluru commanded a huge price in the market.“This is quite popular among the weed users in the elite strata of the society and can fetch thrice as much as ordinary ganja,” said Kazhakoottam Excise Inspector B R Swaroop.“We took him into custody on the basis of a tip-off. Because of the cost involved in buying the superior quality ganja, only financially sound users depended on him,” said an officer.