CHENNAI: Five persons, including three women, were arrested by the Washermanpet police on Friday for smuggling about 20 kg of ganja from Odisha. Police seized the contraband and the container truck used to smuggle the drug.
Police sources said that a special team monitored the movements of a suspect from Korukkupet based on a tip-off and learnt that she was part of a gang which was smuggling ganja from Odisha to Chennai.
A team tracked her autorickshaw and apprehended the suspect when she met her accomplices, who came on a container truck. Police found 20 kg of ganja inside the truck, after which Geetha (38), Padma (42), Deepa (45) and Nitish Kumar (30) - all natives of Korukkupet and John (35), a native of Thoothukudi, were arrested. The auto-rickshaw driver, who was not involved in the smuggling, was released after the investigation
The five arrested persons were produced before a magistrate's court in Chennai and remanded in judicial custody. Police are investigating whether the suspects are part of a larger ganja trafficking network operating between Odisha and Chennai.