270 kg ganja seized from truck near Poonamallee

A lorry laden with rubber was intercepted by a team of NIB officials, led by D Purushothaman, deputy superintendent of police on Poonamalee High Road at Nazarathpet near Chennai during a routine vehicle check. 

The NIB sleuths found 270 kg of dry ganja, illegally loaded and transported from Vizag in Andhra Pradesh by Selvam, Mathi and Ramesh, all hailing from Athur in Salem along with the rubber load to be transported from Guwahati in Assam to Kochi in Kerala via Tamil Nadu. The officials seized ganja worth Rs 30 lakh, and rubber worth Rs 1.5 crore. 

“The smugglers purchase the dry ganja at Rs 5000 a kilo. They take it to Kerala where they can sell it for Rs 20,000 a kilo,” a police official said. They procure it directly from Naxal controlled areas, he added. 

In the last six months, the NIB CID units of Tamil Nadu have intensified intelligence collection, vehicle checking and raids in hideouts throughout the state and seized around 2000 kg of ganja and 15 vehicles transporting the contraband, besides arresting 325 persons involved in the act of smuggling. 

The NIB had also asked people to inform about sale/storage/transport of ganja at 044-285 11587 or spnibcid@gmail.com. The identity of the caller or informant will be kept secret, a press release from the police unit said.

Meanwhile, Adambakkam police have arrested a 37-year-old woman for allegedly peddling ganja in the locality. The accused, Manjula, was arrested at Periyar Nagar and 4.5 kg ganja was seized from her.