KOCHI: In the second major LSD haul effected within a fortnight here, the Shadow police on Thursday busted a massive racket by arresting two members and seized LSD stamps and Hashish from them.
Nishad, 25 of Kollam and Naushad, 25 of Aluva, who were nabbed from the Vyttila Mobility Hub, are part of a gang engaged in bringing drugs and narcotic products in bulk from outside the state. The police recovered 60 LSD stamps worth ` 1.8 lakh and hashish worth `25,000 from the duo.
“The LSD seizure is one of the biggest in terms of quantity and quality in the district. The seized consignment belongs to the ‘void’ category which is of high quality and commands a high price. The accused persons targeted young men and women under the age of 25. We had been keeping tabs on the gang after receiving a tip-off high quantity LSD stamps are being brought to Kochi,” an officer said.
The police have started a manhunt for a Perumbavoor native who is believed to be the kingpin of the racket. “The arrested persons revealed Jabreel of Perumbavoor, who is believed to be a student in Chennai, is supplying them LSD. Jabreel takes online order for LSD stamps and supplies it through courier services,” police said.
LSD seizures have become common in recent times as the Shadow police had seized LSD drops from a person at the South Railway station last week. However, there were few if any instances of the pyschedelic drug’s seizure here a few years ago. “But now, there is a huge demand for LSD among the peddlers here. In general, drug seizures have become more common now,” an officer said.
The data available with police shows there has been a two-fold rise in the number of drug hauls here lately compared to those of the last four years. This year, on an average around 56 NDPS(Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) cases have been registered by the City police alone every month.