The excise police in Hyderabad on Saturday arrested a pan shop vendor from Fateh Nagar and seized over 200 chocolates, which had ganja (marijuana) mixed in them. The accused was identified as Jayanth Pradhan and the police said that 228 chocolates had been seized in total.
Speaking to reporters, Balanagar Prohibition and Excise Station Inspector Jeevan Kiran said, "Based on a tip-off, we conducted searches and arrested the accused. There is no permit to sell such substances here."
"Upon questioning, he confessed that one Akash would procure the ganja from Odisha and bring it to him. The ganja would already be converted into a fine powder and mixed with chocolate powder, jaggery and other materials to make it a semi-solid toffee that could be swallowed," the official added.
The police said that this was being done to escape scrutiny by law enforcement authorities.
"The main customers for this chocolate are college-going students, who are getting addicted to it by eating this daily. We request the public to notify us immediately if they come across such chocolates being sold, so that we can take strict action," Inspector Jeevan Kiran said.
A similar raid had been conducted by the same team of officials last year, when they managed to trace a warehouse after nabbing a pan shop vendor selling the chocolates. At the warehouse, officials seized 1,400 chocolates with marijuana mixed in them, which weighed 9.4 kg.
When asked if a larger nexus was operating in the city, Jeevan Kiran told TNM that as per initial investigation, it seemed that the chocolates were being made in Odisha, most likely in Balasore district, and being transported to Hyderabad. “Each individual chocolate was sold for around Rs 30 or Rs 40,” he said.
In May last year, officials of Telangana's Vigilance and Enforcement department raided an apartment in Ameenpur and arrested two people for selling marijuana oil to youth in the city. The accused were using large bottles and disguised the liquid as honey to smuggle it into the city. After this, it was transferred into smaller containers.