KOCHI: Five people, including a woman, were arrested on the premises of the Kaloor International Stadium after excise seized half a kilo of a drug worth Rs 25 lakh. The arrested woman who hails from Kottayam is known as 'Thumbipenn', and is the mastermind behind drug sales in the city.

According to Excise, their method is to order drugs online from Himachal Pradesh and sell them in Kochi city. Excise called them posing as potential buyers and demanded 10 grams of narcotic. Last night at 8 o'clock, the accused reached the hotel near the stadium by car. Following this, the excise team surrounded the car. The violent suspects were taken into custody by the officers. The Assistant Excise Commissioner also reached the spot.

Meanwhile, Excise officials said that a foreign labourer who planted cannabis plants in Ernakulam has been arrested. Pradeep Biswas, a native of West Bengal, who lives in a rented building in Aluva, was arrested. He had planted five cannabis plants. Based on the information provided by Preventive Officer CK Madhu of the EI&IB office, the accused was apprehended by a team consisting of Special Squad Inspector KP Pramod, PO Shihabuddin, CEOs KS Manoj, Sreekumar, WCEO Nisha and driver Badar.