HYDERABAD: A pan shop vendor, Jayanth Pradhan, who was selling marijuana (ganja) chocolates at his shop near Fateh Nagar in Hyderabad was nabbed by Excise Police on Saturday. Over 200 flavoured chocolates laced with marijuana were seized from Pradhan, 41, after raids by the Excise Department.
“Based on a tip-off, we raided the pan shop and found around 1.2 kg of chocolates in five packets. Each packet had around 40 chocolates,” excise officials said. After interrogating the pan shop owner, it was found that the chocolates were being made by another person, Akash Das.
Das was allegedly selling the chocolates to pan shop vendors between Fateh Nagar and Sanath Nagar road.
“Some of the peddlers are converting marijuana into a fine powder and mixing it with chocolate powder to make toffees,” N Anji Reddy, Assistant Excise Superintendent said. “Since the last two years, peddlers are finding new ways to sell banned drugs. But the excise department is maintaining a strict vigil,” he added.