KOCHI: The Excise Crime Branch probing the Kakkanad MDMA case, in which over 1.1kg of the drug was seized from a gang, has found that accused persons were all set to buy a property in Kodaikanal. The sleuths received the information after questioning two funders of the gang — Kozhikode native Dipeesh and Kochi native Shifan Taj — in custody.
First accused Muhammad Favas had given advance money to buy a house and land in Kodaikanal, an official said. “The gang wanted to own a permanent place to organise rave parties. They gave an advance amount for a property located in an isolated place. We suspect the gang was procuring and selling a large quantity of MDMA to mobilise funds to buy the property,” said the official.
The excise also has identified another member of the gang who organsed rave parties across the state. He is under surveillance and likely to be arrested soon. Meanwhile, Dipeesh and Shifan were produced before the local court on the expiry of their custody on Saturday. They were taken to various places in Kochi and Kozhikode for evidence collection when the court had sent them to three days’ excise custody. The court remanded them to judicial custody.