Chennai, Aug 10 (IANS): The Coimbatore city police is on high alert after the drug peddlers have adopted new methods to push the drug in the city, especially among students in colleges and even schools.

Sources in Coimbatore police told IANS that the drug peddlers are selling 'Ganja' in chocolate form which is difficult to detect. The chocolate-laced drug is being targetted to be sold to school students.

The police team which is assigned to crack down said that this is the easiest form of 'Ganja' that could be sold in the market as chocolate is undetected by the cops.

They also said that the high returns that are at stake for the peddlers have led to many turning into becoming agents of the racket and students who are once addicted to this have later turned into pushers to get money for their substance use.

Coimbatore City police commissioner V. Balakrishnan told IANS that the chocolate ganja is mainly sourced from Rajasthan and sold in the Coimbatore market. While many peddlers have been arrested and interrogated, several are outside the loop as many independent gangs are operating in the market.

Police have recently held two meetings with college authorities and have commenced awareness programmes at every college and its premises. The city cops have also constituted special teams that have been sent to identify the source of the drug in Rajasthan and in Ghaziabad.