Trichy police bust gang smuggling ganja from AP, Odisha

Trichy: The prohibition enforcement wing (PEW) of Trichy police arrested three men including a man and his son on Thursday for smuggling 21kg of ganja from other states to the city. Police said the gang used the public transport network to smuggle the contraband from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha to the city.
The arrested are Parkili Murugan, 59, of Ramji Nagar, his son M Sakthivel, 23, and Abdul Basith, 24, of Adirampattinam, Thanjavur.
Police said Murugan, a notorious ganja peddler, deputed his son Sakthivel and Abdul, to Visakhapatnam to purchase ganja last week. Abdul, a first-time offender and a Dubai returnee, became acquainted with Sakthivel recently. "Sakthivel and Abdul stayed in Visakhapatnam for three days and procured 21kg of ganja for 1 lakh from Rayagada, Odisha, with the help of a smugglers' network," said a police officer.
The two reached Chennai by train, and from there took an MRTS bus to Tambaram, where they boarded a bus to Trichy. They got down at Samayapuram toll plaza on Chennai-Trichy NH on Thursday night. DSP Jayaseelan and his PEW team checking vehicles at the plaza found the duo's activities suspicious and checked their bags when they found 20 packs of ganja, the officer added.
The team arrested Sakthivel and Abdul, and based on their statements, arrested Murugan. Police said the gang was packaging ganja into sachets and selling it in Trichy and surrounding areas for five times the purchase cost. The arrested were produced before the special court for Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Pudukottai and remanded in judicial custody.