VILLUPURAM: A total of 80 kilograms of ganja was seized and seven persons were arrested in Villupuram district on Sunday evening following a tip-off about smuggling activities.
“Initial inquiry revealed that the ganja was smuggled from Chennai and distributed in Thiruvannainallur and surrounding areas,” police said.
According to police, a special team conducted a vehicle check in the Enathimangalam area under the orders of Villupuram District Superintendent of Police P Saravanan.
Police stopped and searched a mini load-carrier vehicle, during which 4 kg of ganja was found hidden inside. The vehicle’s occupants were identified as S Ganeshan (40) and his mother S Dhanam (60), both residents of Guduvancheri in Chengalpattu district.
“Based on the information provided by them, we seized an additional 6 kg of ganja from three more persons,” said a police official. The three were identified as D Tamil (21) of Thiruvannainallur, M Gunasekaran (21) of Ananthapuram, and C Dinesh (19) of Ottampattu.
Following further investigation, a special team conducted a raid in Melkalavai village near Guduvancheri and seized 70 kg of ganja. Two more persons, S Karthik (32) of Melkalavai and S Srinivasan (30) of Perumbakkam in Chennai, were arrested.
Police said the total seizure amounted to 80 kg of ganja. In addition, mobile phones and the mini load-carrier vehicle used for transportation were also confiscated.
All seven accused were produced before the court on Monday and remanded to judicial custody at Villupuram Central Prison.