As much as 300 kg of cannabis, commonly known as ganja (dry), was seized by the Narcotics Intelligence Bureau (NIB) in the city on Monday morning. The NIB arrested two persons and confiscated the car used for trafficking the contraband.
Sources said a tip-off was received by Additional Director General of Police (Crime) Pradeep V Philip regarding the trafficking of the ganja into Chennai.
An NIB team comprising DSP K Adhiveerapandiyan and Inspector S Muthuvelpandi intercepted a luxury car at Vadapalani around
6 am. A vehicle search revealed 21 polythene bags stuffed with 300 kg of ganja. Subsequently, the duo, identified as car driver Rajapandi (25) and Sekar (42), was arrested.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the duo had purchased cannabis from the remote Padagiri Hills, 120 km away from Vishakapatnam. Police said the locals of Padagiri had cultivated ganja with the support of naxals in and around Padagiri.
NIB sources said that the ganja was purchased at a cost of `1,500 to `2,500 per kg based on the quality and was to be sold here at a cost of `7,500 to `10,000 per kg. The total catch was valued at `45 lakh.
The ADGP recommended an award of `4.5 lakh to the special team that apprehended the traffickers.
Sources said Sekar had been into this business for sometime and had been making frequent trips to Andhra Pradesh to procure the contraband.
The seized drug was meant for distribution in the Southern districts, including Madurai, Theni, Dindigul and Sivaganga.
Since the case involved 300 kg of ganja, the case came under commercial category (any catch over 20 kg is classified as commercial quantity). The punishment for this offence was over 10 years imprisonment with a maximum fine of `2 lakh. It was a non-bailable offense.
In January, the NIB CID had seized around 25 kg of ganja.
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