848 kg of ganja worth Rs 4.5 cr, hidden in brick form under red chillies, seized in Chennai

CHENNAI: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seized 848 kg of ganja, hidden in moulded brick forms under sacks of red chillies, and arrested three persons near Chennai on Tuesday. The value of the seized ganja is said to be about 4.5 crore.

According to an official release by the NCB's Chennai zonal unit, their sleuths dismantled a major syndicate trafficking ganja into Tamil Nadu from the Andhra-Odisha border.

NCB teams had received a specific tip-off about the movement of the ganja consignment and were keeping a tight vigil at border towns outside Chennai. A container truck was flagged by the NCB team near a toll plaza on the city outskirts.

On checking the container, the narcotics sleuths found 396 ganja packets, moulded into a brick form hidden beneath bags of red chillies. According to officials, there were three persons in the truck.

"Two including the kingpin fled the scene at the time of interception but were traced within 24 hours. The kingpin who has been arrested is a repeat offender with prior cases, including one for murder and three under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act," an official statement said. The arrested persons were identified as Siva, Parthasarathy and Dinesh.

According to NCB officials, ganja was sourced from a place near the Kaza toll plaza in Vijayawada. Efforts are under way to trace both forward and backward linkages of the syndicate, including the suppliers, officials said.