This story is from April 12, 2015

Bengal youths recruited as drug carriers

The arrest of a West Bengal native has unearthed a major drug racket where poor people from Murshidabad in West Bengal are recruited as drug carriers to Kerala. The excise department arrested Sajal Mandal (25) on Friday and seized 2.5 kg ganja, which is valued around Rs 50,000 in the local market, from him.
Bengal youths recruited as drug carriers
KOCHI: The arrest of a West Bengal native has unearthed a major drug racket where poor people from Murshidabad in West Bengal are recruited as drug carriers to Kerala. The excise department arrested Sajal Mandal (25) on Friday and seized 2.5 kg ganja, which is valued around Rs 50,000 in the local market, from him.
Mandal was produced before the Ernakulam sessions court and was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
Excise officers said they would soon move a petition before the court seeking his custody. They added that he has been shuttling between Kerala and West Bengal for the past few months as a drug carrier.
Officials said Mandal confessed that many of his friends in Murshidabad were regular drug carriers. "He hails from a poor family and claims to have passed Plus Two. He wanted to pursue higher education, but financial constraints forced him to end his pursuit. A friend enlisted him for drug trade saying that he could earn money and finish his studies. We will verify his claims," said CI T S Sasikumar, excise enforcement and anti-narcotic squad, Kochi.
During each trip to Kochi, Mandal would bring 3-5 kg of ganja from Murshidabad and hand it over to middlemen here. "Mandal wouldn't collect money directly from the middlemen. He would just deliver the drugs to persons at different locations in Kochi as per his boss's instruction from Kolkata. We suspect that the value of drugs would be sent to the accounts of the kingpins in Kolkata or there would be some collection agents," Sasikumar said, adding that drug carriers like Mandal will be paid in Kolkata.
Excise officials believe that the drugs are being brought from Bangladesh. "We register at least two such cases every month. In Murshidabad, a kilo of ganja costs around Rs 5,000 and when it reaches in Kochi the amount triples," said the officer.
With enforcement officials strengthening the check on drug pushers, the price of ganja has gone up in Kochi. "Earlier, a sachet of 5gm was around Rs 300. Now, it has gone up to Rs 500," he said. Officers said that the quantity of drugs Mandal brought falls in medium range, which may attract a prison term of 10 years and a fine of one lakh rupees. A kilo attracts a fine of Rs 10,000 and a jail term of six months. Quantity exceeding 20 kg is classified as commercial traffic. This can earn a fine of Rs 2 lakh and a jail term of ten years to life term.
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