Chennai: The ganja that is imported into Tamil Nadu by drug cartels is also smuggled to Maldives and Sri Lanka by the sea route, according to sources.
While being transported from Andhra - Odisha Border, the ganja will have to pass through two checkposts, in Tiruvallur and Puzhal / Red-Hills. Once it passes these two points without being flagged, the product will reach the main dealers who finance the crop.
Sources said the main dealers who operate from Madurai, Theni, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram stock up on ganja, later releasing it to dealers in Munnar and Idukki districts in neighbouring Kerala.
Simultaneously, they also operate through their networks for transport of the contraband, which will change hands international waters off Sri Lanka and Maldives.
The sea route is also used to smuggle a sizeable quantity to Andaman Islands as well. The transporters are known to pretend to be fishermen and use a fishing boat as their front to smuggle the contraband to the high seas.
The recent seizure of ganja from two fishermen from Ramanathapuram adds credence to the theory that the international drug racket transacts with the main dealers operating in the State to move it to different countries.
