Sleuths of the Customs Department in Chennai reported on Saturday that they have made a drug bust as they seized 31 parcels of ganja, which arrived via foreign postal mail to the city. The consignments were picked up by the Postal Intelligence unit and were reportedly ordered from Canada, United Kingdom and the United States. K Parama Guru, a 28-year-old from Chennai, has been arrested in the case.
According to a report in The Hindu, the payments for the shipments were through cryptocurrency. Sources told the newspaper that the raid has been ongoing for three months and about 4 kg worth of ganja has been seized so far. In order to avoid detection, the ganja packets were reportedly packed along with coffee powder to mask the fragrance. The information of recipients was often falsified, according to the report.
A press release by the Customs Department said that the parcels contained dried green leaves of marijuana, packed in multiple layers of vacuum compressed sealed plastic bags. When the samples of these leaves were sent for testing, it was found that they were ganja, a prohibited substance under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985. In some cases, investigations revealed that names of people were misused on parcels.
Parama Guru had reportedly placed an order for 112 grams of ganja for personal use via the dark web. He ordered the ganja from Canada, reportedly addressed to his friend’s address and paid Rs 45,000 in Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency. As per the provisions of the NDPS Act, the purchase of narcotic substances less than 1 kg in weight may attract a jail term of up to one year.
“It appears that the cannabis, meant for personal consumption, is being smuggled in small quantities and meant for personal consumption. It is observed that relaxation given by Western countries in recent times in the use of cannabis seems to have triggered the smuggling of the substance from these countries,” (sic) the Customs Department also stated.
Source: The News Minute