KOCHI: Eleven youngsters who sourced ganja from Haryana through courier service landed in the police net on Sunday. The arrested are Aneesh Joseph of Kozhikode, Arjun S from Kalamassery, Nikhil Krishna of Kakkanad, Akhil Krishna of Thrissur, Farhan Kabeer and Prakash Ramnath of Manjeri, Joseph Sebastian from Pala, Thevara native Tanmay Ashar, Akshay from Kulathoor and Kochi natives Anirudh and Vargheese Mathew.
The youths used to order ganja via an online shopping site from a firm based in Haryana. The firm then sends ganja in powder form via courier. The accused procured the contraband after paying money through digital payment apps. The firm slapped a sum of Rs 899 for 4gms of ganja, said a police officer.
The police said a joint search carried out by the Ernakulam Central Police and Kochi city police DANSAF team led to the arrest of the accused. As the contraband was mixed with another powder, the police used a drug detection kit to identify the powder. The police said the abuse of contraband after sourcing it online is on the rise among youths in the city. After conducting an inquiry, legal actions will be initiated against these persons, officials said.
In another instance, a 27-year-old was arrested with 0.67 gm of MDMA drug from Tripunithura. Arun of Tripunithura, was arrested based on a tip-off received by the police. The public can inform the police about drug abuse to the ‘Yodhavu’ mobile app on 9995966666 as text, video, and audio formats.