Panaji, March 25 – A 22-year-old man was arrested in Quepem, Goa, for the illegal possession of suspected ganja worth approximately Rs. 30,000, officials said on Wednesday.
The Quepem Police have registered a case against the accused under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
A police team, led by Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) Digamber Bondre of the Quepem Police Station, apprehended the accused on Tuesday in the Nirmal Nagar area of Quepem in South Goa.
According to the police, approximately 297 grams of greenish leafy substance with flowering and fruiting tops, suspected to be ganja, worth approximately Rs. 30,000, was recovered.
The accused, identified as Zakir Pirzade, is a local resident of Quepem in Goa, the police said.
As part of the operation, police also recovered cash worth Rs. 20,000, one mobile phone, and one Fascino scooter, collectively valued at approximately Rs. 1,50,000, from the accused.
He was produced before a Judicial Magistrate, who sent him to three days of police custody. The police said that he is being questioned to ascertain the source of procurement and the backward and forward linkages in the matter.
Officials said that further investigation in the case is ongoing, with PSI Digamber Bondre, under the supervision of PI Prashal Dessai, SDPO Quepem Ashish Shirodkar, and SP South Santosh Dessai.
Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had, in February, provisionally attached immovable properties valued at approximately Rs. 7.17 crore in Goa as part of a major money laundering investigation linked to international narcotics trafficking.
The action, carried out by the ED's Panaji Zonal Office, targeted assets allegedly acquired through the illicit trade of commercial-grade drugs.
The investigation was initiated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following a complaint filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Goa, in March 2021.
The case named Ugochukwu Solomon Ubabuko, Infinity John (alias David/Valentine Ejezie), and Prasad Prakash Walke as key accused under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
