20 times profit in few months; cannabis lobby flourishing

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Cannabis is mainly brought to Kerala from the states of Andhra, Odisha and Telangana. The harvest season is in December-January. The price will come down considerably during these months. It will be available for Rs 5000 per kg and will be stocked in large quantities. It will be sold for Rs 1 lakh per kg if sold in packs priced at Rs 200-500. This is how the drug lobby is reaping profits.

In the last 20 days, the police have seized 299.85 kg of cannabis. 38 cases were registered for large-scale stockpiling of cannabis. In January, the excise department seized 417.36 kg. Not even 5% of the smuggled cannabis is caught.

Maximum amount of cannabis is being brought to Kochi. The police seized 21.77 kg of cannabis in two weeks. Cannabis is being brought to Tamil Nadu and smuggled across the Kerala border in goods wagons and buses. Interstate workers also bring cannabis in trains.

A good portion of those who buy it in retail are students, and students themselves are the agents. The police had found that many of the stalls near colleges are drug centres.

There are social media groups for drug sales. It will be delivered to the needy if a message is sent via WhatsApp. Codes are used. Cannabis from Odisha and Andhra is sold under the name Idukki Gold.

Most of the cannabis plantations are in Maoist areas. There are more than fifty thousand acres of cannabis plantations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Most of the cultivation is in the outskirts of Visakhapatnam, in Narsipatnam, Chintapally and Paderu areas.

Cannabis sweets, shakes

Ganja sweets priced at Rs 50 are widespread among students in Wayanad. They are being sold through social media groups

In Kozhikode, juice stalls were caught selling cannabis oil in the form of milkshakes and adding it to students

The storage centres and wholesale distribution network should be eliminated. Only then will there be an end to this.

-B Radhakrishnan,

Joint Excise Commissioner

Seized in three years: 10,829 kg

Seized by Excise in one year: 4370 kg