HYDERABAD: As law enforcement agencies have tightened their grip against sale and consumption of ganja, hash oil that is extracted from the same plant is fast replacing ganja among consumers in Telangana.
This is mainly because it is easy to transport and involves less risks. Many people involved in this illicit trade are flocking Agency areas along Andhra-Odisha borders to procure hash oil and passing them as herbal oils, pain relief tailam etc.
The consumers in Telangana are also adopting to the new derivative, which is more potent than ganja, even though it is expensive.
One kilo ganja costs upto Rs 7,000, which is then sold to consumers for upto Rs 20,000. On the contrary, one litre hash oil is procured for nearly Rs 50,000 and could be sold for up to Rs 5 lakh. The oil is sold in retail in packs of 5 ml for Rs 2,500.
Transportation of ganja involves a lot of risk. From the time of procurement, arranging vehicles and middlemen for transportation, packing, taking precautions to control the strong odour, loading, transportation, evading checks and finally delivering the stock to the receiver is a hectic process.
Though this business had been going on smoothly until Telangana government declared a war on ganja.
Smugglers were managing to transport the contraband, but could not deliver to clients due to stringent checks and regular seizures. This forced them to look for alternative options. The demand for hash oil, though in use in the past, suddenly spiked with this development, as it can easily be packed in a plastic boxes.