ALAPPUZHA: Three persons were held with 85 packets of ganja by the excise team during raids at Padanilam near Nooranad here on Wednesday. The ganja was kept in one gm packets to be sold to school students. Excise inspector Abdul Hakim said that 57 packets of ganja were recovered from Jain, 21, Parapurathu Puthan veedu, Koorambala, and Akhil, 20, Varolil, Kudassanad, while 28 packets were found in the possession of Jaidhu, Mukka-thayyathu, Kudassanadu, near Padanilam.
Jaidhu was arrested from Kudassanad NSS HSS premises and the others were held from the surroundings of Padanilam HSS. They were selling the stuff to the students for some time. The excise department has registered 758 abkari cases during the past three months in the district and arrested 853 persons. More than 700 cases under COPTA (cigarettes and other products of tobacco) Act and three cases under narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances (NDPS) Act were registered.
