THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Excise department has taken into custody four men, for allegedly smuggling 94 kg ganja from Andhra Pradesh in a rented car. The four youths identified as Ratheesh, Vishnu, Akhil and a Tiruvalla native Ratheesh were nabbed from Kannettumukku near Thampanoor here on Sunday.
The gang, also comprising a woman, had brought the contraband from Andhra and was smuggling it via Parassala. When the excise personnel blocked the vehicle, one of the men and the woman fled the place. The man was later nabbed with the help of the local residents, while the woman managed to escape.
The excise sleuths managed to arrest the racket after being intimated by the owner of a car rental firm. The gang had taken the car claiming that they want to visit various places within the state. However, when the owner checked the GPS tracker, the car was found to be in Andhra Pradesh and had clocked close to 1500 kilometres. Getting suspicious, the owner informed the excise of his apprehension.
As the car entered Kerala on Sunday morning, the excise mounted surveillance and cornered the people when the car stopped near Kannettumukku.
The drugs were found concealed in 48 bundles. Excise sources said all four were from Thiruvananthapuram and the final destination of the drugs could be known after interrogating the detained men.
Meanwhile, one of the detained men, who identified himself as a native of Neyyattinkara, claimed innocence before the media. Introducing himself as the former SFI unit secretary of Sanskrit College in Thiruvananthapuram, the youth said he came to purchase rice from a nearby shop when he was arrested.