KOCHI: A three-member gang was recently found in possession of MDMA, hashish oil and ganja. The incident brought two developments to light -- young girls being lured to act as drug carriers and drug abusers renting apartments to carry out their illegal trade
Drug rackets in the city have devised a new game plan in which young women are trained as carriers. The dark underbelly of the new recruitment drive came to light when the Kochi City Police on Monday arrested a three-member gang, which included a 23-year-old woman, for possessing MDMA, hashish oil, and ganja worth lakhs of rupees. The woman, identified as Arya Chelat, 23, of Vypeen, was nabbed along with Sameer V K, 35, of Kasaragod and Ajmal Razaq, 32, of Kothamangalam.Police said the racket was using Arya as a carrier for drug trafficking and evade the prying eyes of the enforcement agencies.
Arya had been staying with her friend Ajmal Razaq in an apartment for a while. “She was involved with friends who abused drugs. This company led her to get acquainted with Sameer, the key accused in the case and the gang purposely inducted her as a ‘carrier’,” said an officer. “We will get a clear picture only after conducting a detailed inquiry and taking the accused into police custody,” said the officer.
Recently, in Thrissur, excise sleuths nabbed a woman and seized 150mg of MDMA from her possession. She was found to be a regular abuser and involved in drug trafficking, according to excise officers.
“Though drug abuse among women is found to be common now, many young girls are largely used in drug trafficking. In the majority of cases, girls fall prey to such drug mafia. The gangs find it easy to operate their business using these girls, who end up evading enforcement agencies,” said T A Ashok Kumar, deputy excise commissioner.
Synthetic drugs are in high demand among the youth. Online consignments are now a challenge for excise authorities to track the source of the inflow of the contraband. “Currently, youths procure drugs online. Drug trafficking gangs are dealing with their customers via WhatsApp and other social media platforms,” said Ashok. The Kochi City Police have launched ‘Yodhavu’, a mobile app on which the public can inform police about drugs and its distribution.