THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The smuggling of 90kg of ganja that was seized from the state capital on Sunday is suspected to be a handiwork of a large racket with as many as six people providing financial support to purchase the contraband from the hinterlands of Andhra Pradesh.
Excise sources revealed that they recovered six ATM cards belonging to different people from the three arrested. These ATM cards, it is suspected, belong to those who extended financial support to the men to purchase the drugs.
Sources said the account details will be retrieved in the coming days as part of the probe and the account holders will be summoned for questioning. The agencies have been getting inputs that a band of people were investing money, expecting to make a windfall out of the lucrative drug business.
The drug that was seized from a four-member gang on Sunday was purchased at a cost of Rs 2 lakh from Andhra Pradesh. If the drug consignment had reached the market hoodwinking law enforcement agencies, it could have fetched the gang an assured profit of Rs 23 lakh and above. It’s this prospect of earning a huge profit within a short time span that’s luring people to become silent partners in the business, sources said.
“The gang that was caught on Sunday had conducted a trial of drug peddling recently. They brought a packet of ganja weighing 2 kg and sold it here for a profit of Rs 25,000. The huge monetary gain is one of the major factors that contribute to the spurt in drug peddling.
Being a wholesale supplier is less risky when compared to being a retailer. A retail dealer could earn up to Rs 70,000 profit by selling a packet of 2kg ganja, but he runs the chance of getting caught sooner. However, a supplier can cover up himself to some extent as he only contacts a very few, selected dealers. It’s this anonymity as well as the huge margins associated with the deals that drive many into the ignominious business,” said an excise officer, who preferred to remain incognito.
Sources said apart from the four, who have been remanded, more arrests are likely in connection with Sunday’s seizure.