27-yr-old arrested for ₹2.5-L ‘mango weed’

MUMBAI : Mango weed, a hybrid variant of marijuana named as such owing to the smell of its smoke, is the new narcotic that’s on the radar of the Mumbai police after a 27-year-old autorickshaw driver was caught recently. According to the Worli unit of anti-narcotics cell (ANC), Raj Bhagvansingh Thakur was arrested from Parel with 1.880kg of mango weed worth ₹2.50lakh.

Ninad Sawant, senior police inspector, said two police officers, Amar Marathe and Mukund Gaikwad, confronted Thakur on the basis of suspicion.

“When the officers tried to stop him, he started running. The officers caught him and found the marijuana in a black gunny bag,” said Sawant, adding that the accused confessed it to be mango weed during interrogation.

“Thakur, a resident of Dombivli (East), is a drug peddler in the island city and suburbs,” added Sawant. The police have learnt that there are about 18 to 20 such peddlers, who have been employed by a kingpin who has named the substance Kachhi Kairi , according to Sawant.

Shivdeep Lande, deputy commissioner of police, ANC said, “People are buying mango weed because hashish has become very expensive, primarily after the crackdowns by drug enforcement

agencies .”

Ten gram of hashish would cost anywhere between ₹5,000 to ₹6,500, while 50g of mango weed costs between ₹3,000 and ₹5,000, said Lande.

The ANC has also learnt regular peddlers have not yet started dealing the substance.

“The weed’s availability is conveyed through social networking sites or through word of mouth,” added Lande.

“Also, youngsters have uploaded pictures of this weed on social networking sites. We are monitoring such users,” said an officer.