Officials of Telangana's Vigilance and Enforcement department on Saturday raided a flat in Hyderabad and arrested two people who were allegedly involved in the procurement and sale of liquid ganja, also known as marijuana oil. The raid and arrest were carried out at an apartment in Ameenpur village at the outskirts of the city, which falls under Sangareddy district.
The arrested accused were identified as Govind, a graduate, and Murali, a techie working in Bengaluru. The police said that a total of 1,934 grams of liquid ganja, which was worth roughly Rs 7.8 lakh in the market, was seized from the accused.
After investigation, officials said that another accused was identified as Kamlesh, who hailed from Visakhapatnam and supplied the processed cannabis to the duo.
“The two apprehended accused were using 600 ml Dabur Honey bottles to smuggle the liquid into the city. Thereafter, they’d fill 10 ml food colour containers with the liquid and sell the same to potential customers for about Rs 3,000 per bottle," Superintendent of vigilance and enforcement T. Annapurna was quoted as saying.
The officials also said that the accused primarily targeted students, as Govind who had recently graduated, knew several potential customers.
An electronic weighing machine and two cellphones were also seized from the two accused among other things and a manhunt had been launched for the third person from Visakhapatnam, the police said.
Marijuana oil is highly potent and concentrated and just one or two drops of the substance on a cigarette can give the user a high. The Agency area of Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram district is known for large-scale ganja cultivation, as farmers cultivate high-quality ganja in the interior areas, especially among the Eastern Ghats along the Andhra-Odisha border. The Sheelavathi variety of the crop is most commonly grown here and has many takers in cities like Hyderabad, Vijayawada and even as far as Bengaluru.
The arrest also came just a day after the Hyderabad Commissioner’s Task Force, South Zone Team, unearthed an interstate drug peddling gang and nabbed 5 people who were found in possession of 28 grams of heroin and were supplying the same in the city. The police said that the accused used to smuggle the drug from Mumbai and sell it in the city for a higher price, in order to make large profits quickly.