Namakkal: Police seized 97kg of high-quality ganja worth several lakhs of rupees from a pickup van near Pallipalayam on the Erode–Salem highway on Thursday morning. The contraband, concealed beneath stacks of tomato crates, was allegedly being smuggled from Andhra Pradesh for distribution among college students in Erode and Namakkal.The smugglers were apprehended when an ambulance driver alerted Pallipalayam police after noticing the van speeding recklessly without giving way. Acting swiftly on the information, police intercepted the vehicle at Thekkupalayam. A subsequent search of the van led to the seizure of the contraband. Police confiscated both the narcotics and the pickup van used to smuggle the contraband.The van driver, identified as K Murali, 34, was taken into custody. “Preliminary investigation revealed that he had sourced the contraband from Andhra Pradesh and planned to supply it to students in prominent colleges across Erode and Namakkal,” said a police officer from Pallipalayam station. He added that Murali is being subjected to intensive interrogation to trace the wider network behind the smuggling operation.Thursday’s seizure comes amid a series of recent crackdowns in Pallipalayam and Kumarapalayam, where narcotics including tablets, injections, and ganja have been detected in circulation.A case has been registered and further investigation is on.
