KOCHI: The seizure of nearly 2 kg of MDMA in Mattancherry has put the spotlight on the people behind bulk drug orders, with Kochi city police probing the financiers, interstate suppliers and local handlers operating behind the city’s street-level drug trade.
Two Mattancherry residents, T A Shafeer and Naufal, were arrested in the case. Police suspect Naufal was operating as a wholesale-level supplier and are now investigating whether the duo were acting independently or for a larger network.
The probe has moved beyond the seized consignment, with investigators trying to establish who placed the bulk order, who financed it and who was to receive the drugs for distribution.
“We have cracked some cases of drugs reaching through parcel networks. But it is often a challenge to track as thousands of parcels move through the city every day from various places. Thus we have increased our surveillance,” a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity.
Police are now examining the procurement structure behind large consignments. While investigators have identified major source markets outside Kerala, the bigger challenge is to establish who in Kochi places bulk orders, arranges the money and coordinates distribution among local suppliers.
“In cases involving large quantities, the person caught with the drug may not be the person who arranged or financed the purchase. We are trying to identify those links and find out who is actually controlling the supply,” the officer said.
Investigators are examining the accused persons’ mobile phone records, financial transactions and contacts to identify suppliers and possible financiers. They are also checking whether the same network was involved in earlier consignments.
Kochi City Police Commissioner S Kalliraj Mahesh Kumar had said synthetic drugs were currently arriving mainly from Delhi and Nepal, with trafficking networks changing routes whenever surveillance is tightened. In the Mattancherry case, police were backtracking to identify the original source.
The bulk-order pattern is significant because a single large consignment can be split among several local suppliers, creating multiple layers between the interstate source and street-level sellers.
Tracing those layers could help police identify the financial and organisational structure of the network.
The parcel route adds another challenge. With thousands of consignments arriving in the city every day, police say blanket monitoring is difficult and surveillance has been intensified based on intelligence and suspicious delivery patterns.
Some parcel-linked drug seizures
Mattancherry | Nearly 2 kg MDMA: The latest seizure involved a consignment that had reached Kochi through a parcel route. Police are tracing its movement and the original source
Kochi | Nearly 10 kg ganja: In June, police recovered nearly 10 kg of ganja from a parcel delivered to a workshop. Workers alerted police, exposing the use of an unsuspecting premises as a collection point
3.6 g MDMA: In another June case, 3.6 g of MDMA was allegedly delivered through courier, concealed inside a sari