Panaji, March 25 (IANS) A 22-year-old man was arrested in Goa's Quepem for illegal possession of suspected ganja worth around Rs. 30,000, officials said on Wednesday.

Quepem Police has 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 Quepem Police Station, apprehended the accused on Tuesday at Nirmal Nagar area of Quepem in South Goa.

According to the police, around 297 grams of greenish leafy substance with flowering and fruiting tops suspected to be ganja, all worth approximately Rs. 30,000 was recovered.

The accused, identified as Zakir Pirzade, is a local, a resident of Quepem in Goa, 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 which sent him to three-days of police custody. Police said that he is being interrogated to ascertain the source of procurement and backward and forward linkages in the matter.

Officials said that further investigation in the case is in progress 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), in February, had 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, which was 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.

--IANS

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