Ganja at Doorstep : Businessman's 14-Year-Old Son Gets Cannabis

♦ Drugs being sent through courier services such as Amazon, FedEx and even India Post

♦ Drug peddlers are placing orders for drugs through the dark web and payments are made through cryptocurrency like Bitcoins

♦ In December 2019, four employees of India Post (Chamarajpet overseas branch) were arrested for arranging for the delivery of drugs at doorsteps of peddlers and users

Bengaluru: The drug mafia is now using courier services to send their consignments, while college students seem to be increasingly involved in drug peddling rings in Bengaluru.

To circumvent the stringent Covid-19 curbs that are in place, drug traffickers are using private courier services and even India Post to deliver the narcotics at the doorsteps of addicts amd peddlers without any hassle.

In the latest incident, a businessman from Sadashivanagar was shocked to open a parcel which contained marijuana or cannabis (ganja). The courier parcel was delivered in the name of his son on Independence Day. The father of the 14-year-old boy, a student of a reputed school in the city, opened the parcel as his son was busy playing with his friends. To his utter shock and dismay, he found 'ganja' inside the parcel that was couriered to his son.

But the father himself was clueless of what the 'brown powder' was until he called up his son's friend. Only after the boy's father had Whatsapped the image of the 'brown powder' to his friend did he realise that the 'brown powder' was cannabis. Immediately, the parents of the boy approached the Sadashivanagar police station.

After investigations, the police found that the parcel was sent through a courier service in MG Road. "The parcel was sent by one Dheeraj Kumar. Efforts are on to trace him," a senior police officer said.

While the incident shocked the parents, this is not an isolated case. The drug peddlers are placing orders for drugs through the dark web and payments are made through cryptocurrency like Bitcoins. Over the years, the drug mafia has been using the private courier services and even India Post to deliver the illegal drugs to the doorsteps of users and peddlers alike.

Last year, the Bengaluru Police busted an international drug trafficking ring operating from Canada and The Netherlands via the dark web and arrested at least five peddlers, including a girl student pursuing Bachelor of Business Management in Bengaluru.

The drugs were shipped using Amazon's packaging cover. The cops recovered a parcel containing 2.75 kg of marijuana, 100 e-cigarettes, hash oil, chocolates and jelly laced with ganja worth over Rs 1 crore.

Continuous crackdowns and strict action by Excise authorities have failed to deter drug peddlers from selling ganja and other narcotic products to students.

In December 2019, four employees of India Post (Chamarajpet overseas branch) were arrested for arranging for the delivery of drugs to intended recipients at their doorsteps. The CCB cops had recovered 339 ecstasy pills, 10g MDMA crystal and 30g brown sugar, which were inside a parcel.

The flow of 'ganja' into the capital city has been at an all-time high and a trend has emerged that the peddlers and dealers send their contraband through courier services and post offices, admitted a police officerer, while advising parents to keep a watch on their children's activities outside the house.

Most of the illegal drug trade is being carried out in the form of courier parcels, according to an Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) report. As a matter of fact, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai had anguish over the growing trend of ganja addiction and instructed police to take stringent action against drug peddlers.

Colleges and even schools in the city and elsewhere in the state have become a major target for the drug peddlers, especially in places like Manipal and Mangaluru. The drug mafia mainly targeted students as it was easy to turn them into drug peddlers.