COIMBATORE: Coimbatore district police have asked the Government Railway Police (GRP) to intensify checking on trains coming from northern states, especially Odisha, as they have been seizing narcotic items from guest workers coming to Coimbatore.
Sources said at least two guest workers are arrested a week for ganja peddling in the Karumathampatti sub-division jurisdiction. “Most of them are from Odisha and they smuggle the contraband (tobacco and ganja) by train. If the checking is intensified on trains, we can easily prevent its smuggling and reach the supply chain. Once the consignment lands in the city, it becomes difficult to trace them. We have approached the GRP to intensify checking on trains operated from Odisha and its neighbouring states,” said a senior police officer.
Till a year ago, ganja was smuggled from Theni and the bordering areas of Andhra Pradesh. But thanks to intensive crackdowns, the supply chain from there was cut off. Nevertheless, the smuggling continued.
Following that, it was found that the contraband was coming from a few northern states, according to a police source.
In a major crackdown on March 14, two Odisha natives were arrested near Selakarichal in Coimbatore and 74 kg of ganja was seized from them. Similarly, on Sunday, a 27-year-old Odisha native, Sankar Digital, who was working in a private firm in Tiruppur, was arrested near Thennampalayam with three kg ganja.
“We had started the drive in Coimbatore earlier this year before the department launched the Operation Drug 2.0 across the State.
More than 20 cases were registered in four months in the Karumathampatti sub-division alone. Supply chains are being monitored by our special teams. Three special teams are working towards preventing peddling in the sub-division. We have also advised private employers to collect details of all guest workers they employ,” said Anand Arockia Raj, deputy superintendent of police (Karumathampatti sub-division)
Information on drug peddling could be passed on to the rural police control room at 94981-81212 and WhatsApp number 77081-00100.