Cross-border ganja-smuggling gang busted in Telangana

: A cross-border ganja-smuggling gang was busted in Telangana on Thursday with the arrest of four people, including two from Tamil Nadu, for allegedly transporting the narcotic to Sri Lanka, police said.

A total of 180 kg of the ganja worth approximately Rs 21 lakh and two vehicles were seized from them, the police said.

The accused used to load packets of the cannabis, also known as ganja, into their cars at Sileru in Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh, and transport the drug to Madurai and then to a border point at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu to be smuggled to Sri Lanka, Mahabubnagar district superintendent of police Rema Rajeshwari told a press conference.

The gang members, all habitual offenders, have in the past gone through Andhra Pradesh to the Tamil Nadu border but this time chose the Telangana route and were caught by Mahabubnagar by a special police team, the official said.

Throughout the journey they used a piloting car to go in front of the vehicle smuggling the narcotic.

Further explaining the modus operandi of the gang, she said the smugglers prepared sealed waterproof packs with ganja along with a GPS chip sticker in Rameshwaram, then tag the chip to the ships and boats going towards Sri Lanka.

One persons would be in charge of the consignment and he would release it from the ship in the waters after the vessel reaches the Lankan port. Then, the other people, all part of the racket, would come in small boats and identify the box through GPS trackers and collect the consignment.

The ganja was transported to Lanka and other countries through international smugglers.

A case under relevant IPC sections and under the provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, has been registered.

At Sileru in Visakhapatnam, the ganja was sold atRs 6,000 per kg and inChennaibetween Rs 12,000 and Rs 13,000 per kg while in Sri Lanka it was upto Rs 18,000 per kg, the police added.