Twenty-five kg of ganja was seized by the Excise Department at Perumbavoor on Wednesday morning. Excise special squad led by CI K K Anilkumar nabbed Appukuttan from Perumbavoor market with ganja worth more than Rs 5 lakh.
Appukuttan is suspected to be the leader of an Odisha-based drug trafficking team. Ganja was hidden in small bags inside the upholstery ceiling of a van. Appukuttan said he could keep 100 kg of ganja there. 175 kg ganja brought in two vans with the same facility had been sold in the market, said Anil Kumar.
The ganja bought at Rs 1750 per kg from Odisha was sold here for Rs 20,000. Anil Kumar said that information about the workshop where the vans were readied and the whereabouts of the accomplices in the operation have helped the squad to nab the culprit. The accomplices of Appukuttan will be nabbed soon, he said.
North Indian labourers residing in and around Perumbavoor are the main users of ganja and other drugs, Anil Kumar said.