KOCHI: A Tiruvalla native woman, who was earlier let off by Excise officials after the seizure of over 1.1 kg of MDMA synthetic drug valuing Rs 13 crore from her friends at a serviced apartment in Kochi, was arrested by Excise Crime Branch on Saturday. The woman identified as Thaiba was summoned to appear before the probe team and her arrest was recorded on Saturday morning after interrogation.
“Primary evidence and witnesses revealed that Thaiba also was a part of the gang from whom MDMA was recovered. Thaiba, along with Kozhikode natives Sreemon, Muhammad Favas, his wife Shabna Manoj, together reached the Marhaba Apartment on August 18. Our probe revealed that the four persons had travelled to Chennai and Pondicherry to procure a large quantity of MDMA. They also had three dogs of Rottweiler and Doberman breeds that were trained by Favas, with them.
They also stayed together at two other apartments in Padamugal and Palachuvadu areas,” an official said. Thaiba was produced before the magistrate court and was remanded in judicial custody. The initial decision of Excise not to arraign Thaiba as an accused in the case had kicked up controversies. A preliminary internal inquiry by an Additional Excise Commissioner-ranked officer into lapses in the initial probe pointed out the exclusion of Thaiba as a major mistake on their part. The Excise inspector who first probed the case was suspended and four other officers were transferred as disciplinary action.
Meanwhile, Excise officials on Saturday evening took five arrested persons- Sreemon, Mohammad Favas and Shamna of Kozhikode, Aju alias Amal of Kasaragod, and Mohammad Afsal of Ernakulam to various parts of the city as part of evidence collection. The Excise team will be questioning a Kasaragod native who was also part of the gang but was excluded from the case on Monday. The probe team may also take the accused to Chennai from where they procured MDMA, as part of evidence collection.