Sri Lankan Officials have raised an alarm on the increase of smuggled cannabis into the country from Kerala. In the past few months, multiple seizures have taken place and officials have confiscated more than 300 Kgs of cannabis.
According to reports from the officials in Sri Lanka, the packs smuggled into the country are mostly labeled Kerala Ganja.
On the 10th of November, an Excise Department Officer in Sri Lanka was arrested for possessing the Kerala Ganja. Just three days after the arrest, a Sri Lankan Army soldier was apprehended for smuggling Kerala Ganja in a bus.
Kerala’s Excise Officials were forced to make a statement about the issue raised by Sri Lanka. The Officials maintained their previous story about there being no mass ganja cultivation in Kerala.
Excise Commissioner Rishi Raj Singh reported, “Odisha, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are the major places of mass ganja cultivation these days and mostly Naxals or ex Naxals are involved in it. From there, it is being smuggled to Kerala through Tamil Nadu.”
Singh further added, “Ganja from Kerala, especially Idukki, was in much demand in the international market. Hence, the chances of faking ganja from other parts of the country as Kerala ganja cannot be ruled out.”
Idukki Gold is a type of cannabis from Idukki district in Kerala and is in demand all around the world.