THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The excise department on Thursday seized 187 kg of ganja worth `2 crore in the retail market from a house near Peyad. The contraband was brought from Andhra Pradesh and smuggled to Thiruvananthapuram through a courier company, disguising the consignment as machine parts. The excise has registered cases against two men, Aneesh and Saji, but the duo has absconded. Circle Inspector R Rajesh said Saji, who works as a taxi driver had collected the consignment from the company. The consignment was sent by Aneesh.
Sources said Aneesh and two others had gone to Andhra Pradesh in August and purchased the contraband from the cultivators in a Naxal hotbed near Warangal. The consignment was then couriered. Excise sleuths was monitoring the travel of Aneesh and his group members. It confirmed the men had gone to fetch drugs as the mobile tower locations revealed they had visited Warangal forests.
On their return, the excise intercepted the group, but they were let off after they failed to find drugs in the vehicle. However, on checking the call detail records, the officials found they had contacted a courier company office in Andhra Pradesh. The sleuths on Thursday raided Aneesh’s house and retrieved the contraband stored in packets. Sources said the drug was intended to be sold in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Pathanamthitta.