THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:In a first of its kind in the city, the shadow police here have arrested four people suspected to be wholesale dealers of methamphetamine and seized about one kg of the contraband from them. The drug is expected to cost Rs 1 crore in the black market.
The arrested are Sasidharan,65, and Anil Kumar, 45, of Attingal, Nahas,55, and Shaji, 48, of Chirayinkeezhu. City Police Commissioner P Prakash said Nahas and Anil Kumar had a history of cases registered against them for various drug related dealings. Nahas also has similar cases against him in the Gulf countries.
The four were arrested from Barton Hill area in the city on Tuesday morning when they came in two bikes. The drugs were stored in powdered form, Prakash said.“The arrest was the culmination of a week-long surveillance by the shadow police,” he said.
The drug, popularly known as meth, is said to be highly addictive and is used as a recreational drug. It is infamously known to give strong euphoric effects even when administered in minute quantities. “Five gram is more than enough to give strong euphoric effects,” Prakash said.
The arrested have a network of students, youngsters and foreign tourists as clients. One gram of the drug was sold at `10,000.Since meth is a synthetic drug, the police commissioner said they will find out the laboratory in which it was synthesised. In 2013, two Iranians were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) sleuths from Chennai for running a lab where meth was synthesised.
Though the source of the currently seized drug and the links maintained by the arrested people are yet to be verified, Prakash said the National Investigation Agency and NCB will be alerted about the seizure on account of the possibility of international connections.