BENGALURU: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Bengaluru zone, seized 90kg of ganja (cannabis) and arrested two accused under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. “On April 9, on specific intelligence input, NCB intercepted a truck at Devanahalli and seized 90kg of ganja, which was packed in three gunny bags and concealed under a consignment of coconuts,” said NCB, Bengaluru zonal director Amit Ghawate.
They arrested two men, A Kumar and Z Hussain. “They are both residents of Karnataka. Preliminary investigation revealed that ganja was sourced from Andhra Pradesh and was being ferried to Bengaluru for illegal sale in and around the city,” he added. Ghawate, along with Venugopal G Kurup, assistant director, NCB, Bengaluru, led the operation with their team members. In South India, cannabis is illegally cultivated around the Andhra-Odisha border areas, which are also Naxal hotspots.
“Ganja from this belt is smuggled into Karnataka, Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal by road, and to Sri Lanka via sea. It is a challenge for law enforcement agencies to control the illicit cultivation of cannabis because of treacherous and inaccessible terrain,” added the NCB officer.
SEVEN YOUTHS ARRESTED FOR PEDDLING DRUGS
The KG Halli police arrested three youths and seized drugs worth Rs 60 lakh. Mohammed Sajid Khan (27), a resident of Chikka Banaswadi; Mohammed Ajaj (27) of Kammanahalli; and Sapam Sital Kumar Singh (25) of Hennur Cross were arrested. The three hail from Manipur. While Khan and Ajaj work at a chicken shop in Shivajinagar, Singh is a second-year BBA student in a private college. Police said the trio was arrested while they were trying to sell narcotic substances near the BDA Complex in HBR Layout. Investigations revealed that the accused had smuggled the contraband at the Myanmar border. “They had concealed the drugs in mixer-grinder boxes and had brought it to Bengaluru. They packed it into soapboxes and wrote code words in the Manipuri language,” police said, adding that a stash of heroin, ecstasy and other substances have been recovered.
FOUR PEDDLERS HELD
The HSR Layout police have arrested four youths on charges of drug peddling and have seized 48 kgs of ganja, 960 grams of hashish oil, and other goods worth Rs 58 lakh. The accused -- Mohammed Mushtaq (31), Mohammed Ashiq (19), both from Kasargod in Kerala; Sameer Syed (28) of Bantwal; and Mohammed Afreed (23) of Mangaluru -- were trying to sell narcotic substances to students.