The Customs Preventive Unit on Thursday arrested two persons with 3.1 kg of hashish oil valued at Rs 3 crore in the international market.
The arrested were identified as Satheesh Kumar, 40 of Suryanelli and Joy Chacko, 37 of Kumily. The duo were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate court and remanded.
A team of officials led by Sayeed Muhammad, Superintendent of Customs Preventive Unit in Kochi, made the arrest based on a tip-off that hashish was being transported from Idukki for being handed over to a person in Perumbavur. The duo on their way from Suryanelli in the morning was arrested from near the Perumbavur KSRTC bus stand, Mr. Muhammad said.
Customs officials said the hashish in the possession of the accused were handed over to them by a person identified as Prince of Suryanelli who is known to be a timber merchant in Idukki. His identity has been confirmed in a preliminary probe.
The accused were told that a person would come in front of the Perumbavur High School for collecting the consignment from whom they were to collect Rs 21 lakh. Joy and Satheesh were promised Rs 10,000 for being carriers. However, the identity of the person was not revealed to them, the officer said.
Customs officials found the consignment of 3.1 kg too huge a quantity for domestic supply and suspected designs to smuggle it abroad.
Possessing more than 1 kg of hashish oil is a non-bailable offence.
While the Customs has no information about any illegally operated laboratory in the State engaged in chemically treating cannabis for producing hashish oil, it is a fact that hashish can made at small enclosures albeit by compromising its quality.
Considering that only 100 grams of hashish can be made out of 1 kg of ganja, a huge quantity of ganja is likely to have been used for generating the consignment of 3.1 kg of hashish oil. While the price of hashish oil is relatively low in the domestic market, it attracts a huge price tag in the foreign market.
