KOZHIKODE: Police have intensified the probe on WhatsApp groups and other social media groups targeting teenagers and school children for the sale of narcotic substances. The investigation stems from the case of a 14-year-old student from a school in Kozhikode who fell into the drug mafia’s grip through a carefully coordinated digital trap.
The exploitation began on social media, specifically through an Instagram group consisting of approximately 25 members.
“The narcotic and cyber police are closely observing the social media groups. The college students mainly source the products from Bengaluru-based gangs and they circulate it in the city, which also include school children. The police have been conducting various awareness programmes jointly with NGOs against the drug abuse among school children,” said Jhonson K J, narcotic cell ACP, Kozhikode.
The recent CY-Hunt 2.0 operation had revealed that youths who operate mule accounts for cyber crimes, use the commission amount mainly for sourcing drugs.
Police reports also indicate that teenagers also convince their friends to join the group. The narcotic cell is currently analysing digital evidence from the social media groups. These digital “circles” acted as a grooming platform where the mafia identified vulnerable students and lured them into interactions. Once the students were established within the group, they were allegedly supplied with synthetic drugs.