KOCHI: Taking advantage of lack of security checks on the porous Indo-Nepal border, Judson single-handedly smuggled charas from the Himalayan country to Kochi.
Modus operandi
He used to travel by road to Nepal in his SUV. After procuring the contraband from Kushinagar on the Indo-Nepal border, where there is no security check, he returned through Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Bengaluru to Kochi by enabling the GPRS facility of the vehicle. He started a rent-a-car business to smuggle the contraband to various locations in Kerala.
“As internal fighting and betrayal are common among members of the drug mafia, he planned to build a parallel empire by setting up a ‘quotation gang’ capable of executing supari killings,” said an officer. “If caught by the officers, he planned to escape to Nepal after killing the officers and persons who betrayed him. For this, he always kept a fully-loaded pistol with him,” said the officer. The officers said the seized charas is of top quality- Red Label Grade - and is known as ‘Bilaspur Charas’.
“One of his sons is autistic. He took the child in the vehicle during the smuggling of the contraband to hoodwink the officers,” said Excise Deputy Commissioner K Chandrapalan. A team comprising Excise Special Squad Inspector P Sreeraj, Preventive Officer K R Ramprasad, Intelligence Preventive Officer A S Jayan, Civil Excise Officers P X Rooban, M M Arunkumar, Sidharthan, and Robi made the arrest.
What is charas? Charas is made from the resin of the cannabis plant. It costs about Rs 1.5 crore per kg in the international market.