THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Excise Department on Friday busted a drug racket with suspected international connections, as they arrested three people involved in drug peddling and smuggling and seized about 10 kg hash oil worth Rs 1 crore from them. Acting on a specific tip-off received by Excise Commissioner Rishiraj Singh, a department squad ambushed the trio at the parking lot of a hotel at Mannanthala near here when they were about to do business. The arrested have been identified as Vineesh Kumar, 39, of Peechi, Anoop, 28, of Veeranakav and Ranees, 39, of Vanchiyoor. Excise sources said Vineesh was smuggling hash oil from Thrissur after concealing it in the panel of his car.
He was about to hand over the stuff to Ranees, the owner of a famous eatery in the city, while Anoop was the middleman.Excise sources said when the trio was about to exchange the cash and hash oil, they were apprehended. Cash to the tune of `13 lakh was recovered and two bikes belonging to Anoop and Renees were confiscated. The cash was intended to be paid as advance to Vineesh.
On the basis of the tip-off, the Excise team had mounted heavy surveillance on the highways and deployed plainclothes policemen at various places. An Excise source said a group of personnel led by Thiruvananthapuram range inspector T Anikumar tailed the car driven by Vineesh and later when the trio came to the parking lot to do the transaction, they were picked up.Excise sources also revealed that Renees, a wealthy hotelier, was the kingpin of the racket that used to procure drugs from the domestic market and smuggles it out of the country.
“Prima facia it has been learned the drugs were being smuggled to Maldives and other places.
We are expecting to get more details from the arrested,” said a senior excise officer.This is the first time this quantity of hash oil is being seized in the capital city. Excise Department officers suspect the case has national and international ramifications.Hash oil is extracted from ganja. Considered more potent than ganja itself, the extract can give a prolonged kick and hence preferred by the new generation.
The officer confirmed the oil is not being produced in Kerala and said gangs oversee the extraction of the oil in Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring states and smuggle it to Kerala. Even after the trio was arrested, calls were frequently coming to their phones. The Excise Department said they will seek custody of the three on Saturday to unearth more details about the racket and its functioning.