KOCHI: The police nabbed six persons, including two women, with 4kg of cannabis and 855g of hashish oil in a major drug bust in Aluva on Wednesday.
The arrests were made as part of Operation Clean, an extensive anti-drug drive progressing in Ernakulam Rural district.
According to the police, the first arrest was made on Tuesday night, at Pump Junction, Aluva, where officers apprehended Mamata Digil, 28, a native of Odisha, with 4kg of cannabis.
Further inspection led to an early morning raid near the Aluva railway station, where five more suspects were caught with a bag containing 1kg of hashish oil.
The others arrested are Odisha natives Shiva Gowda, 29, Kulder Rana, 55, and his wife Moina Rana, 35, and their associates Santosh Kumar, 32, and Ram Babu Soona, 32.
The suspects were apprehended while transporting drugs from Odisha via train.
They sell cannabis in Kerala at Rs 25,000 per kilogram before returning on the next available train. To avoid suspicion, they posed as a family.
Shiva Gowda was identified as the leader of the group. The seized hashish oil is valued at approximately Rs 25 lakh per kilogram, the police said.
The operation was carried out by the Aluva police and the District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force team.