Dhubri, Jan. 6: Officials of the Dhubri customs division destroyed ganja valued at Rs 26 lakh at Chalakura char on the Brahmaputra near Dhubri today.
Official sources here said most of the cannabis was seized when narcotic smugglers tried to despatch the consignments illegally to Bangladesh across the riverine border.
A total of 1,302.65 kg of ganja, out of 2,447 kg seized in the period from 2002 to 2004, was destroyed today. Twenty-five cases had been registered in connection with the 1302.65-kg haul of ganja and all these had been disposed of under the judicial process recently, official sources added.
Apart from Manipuri ganja, there has been a recent trend that Bhutanese varieties of ganja are being grown in the river islands of Dhubri district. This has posed a bigger challenge to the customs and law enforcing agencies under the Union ministry of finance and revenue.
Dhubri customs division assistant commissioner P.K. Das said 90 per cent of the ganja seized under this division is of Bhutanese variety, which is grown in the char areas along with other crops like paddy. That is why it is difficult to detect. Like Manipuri ganja, the Bhutanese variety of ganja, illegally grown locally by farmers, has a large market in Bangladesh.
On the trafficking of narcotics through riverine routes, Das said customs officials have to adopt various new approaches for detecting the narcotics owing to changes in modus operandi of exports by traffickers.
?The Bhutanese variety of ganja is also sold on the black market at an average rate of Rs 2,500 per kg. For the past few years, we have expanded our network to detect trafficking of narcotics in this area,? Das added.
The ganja stockpile was formally set ablaze by Guwahati-based joint commissioner of customs (preventive) of the Northeast, K. Ashikhieya, who arrived here yesterday to give the nod for destroying it.
?This is part of an ongoing programme. Thousands of kilograms of Manipuri ganja have already been destroyed in different locations, including Guwahati,? K. Ashikhieya added.
