KOCHI: “Never stop with the small fry – dive deep to catch the big fish.” This mantra is often drilled into young officers during police training.
And that’s exactly what Kochi’s District Anti-Narcotic Special Action Force (DANSAF) did in a recent drug bust case, where it dismantled a major gang smuggling vast quantities of ganja from Odisha’s forests to Kerala’s streets.
The specialised wing was formed to track and apprehend drug peddlers across all districts in the state. Given the high rate of drug-related crime in Kochi, five DANSAF units operate in the area under the supervision of the assistant commissioner, Narcotic Cell.
Officers work undercover, gathering intelligence, identifying peddlers, and detaining suspects. In a recent operation, DANSAF detained seven individuals and seized 57kg of ganja from them in Kalamassery.
The team also went on to capture the kingpin who was distributing large quantities of ganja across Kerala through a network of carriers.
“It all started two months ago, when our team arrested two West Bengal natives with 20kg of ganja near Elamakkara,” says an officer.
“During interrogation, the duo refused to reveal their master. It’s difficult to break such men, as they pretend to understand only Bengali or Odia.” However, the probe took a turn when the police examined the call data records (CDR) of one of the suspects’ phones. “We noticed one phone number, with whom the suspect in custody was regularly in touch, showing up at various locations across the state,” says the officer.
“The number, which would be active only for a few hours each day, was eventually tracked to Odisha.”
Pursuing this lead, the probe team identified the phone’s user as Sudhira Batra, aka Sudhish Bhai, a native of Rayagada in Odisha. On grilling, some other peddlers in police custody also confirmed that Sudhira was their main supplier.
“Through intel gathered from Odisha, we learned that this 24-year-old Sudhira was a big fish. He had a big network, with multiple people working under him to smuggle ganja into various states. Local drug pushers placed orders directly with him, and he would send carriers with the ganja,” the officer notes.
Sudhira was placed under surveillance, and soon blipped on the Kerala radar. “We tracked his movement to Kochi via Palakkad and Thrissur,” says the officer.
“Certain that he was carrying a large consignment of ganja, we deployed an interception team at the Ernakulam Town and Junction railway stations. But he alighted at [the relatively smaller] Kalamassery station, likely to evade the police.”
Another team was quickly dispatched to hunt for Sudhira near the Kalamassery station. “Fortunately, he and his gang were still at the station. There were seven people, all carrying trolley bags,” the officer recalls.
“We found 57kg of ganja in the trolley bags and a handbag. This was one of the largest hauls in Kochi in recent times.”
Further investigation revealed that Sudhira paid each carrier `10,000 to smuggle ganja from Odisha to Kochi. To evade police checks, the carriers frequently changed trains. The gang supplied ganja to migrant workers and local dealers in Kochi, Aluva, Angamaly, and Alappuzha.
Assistant Commissioner (Narcotic Cell) Abdul Salam believes Sudhira’s arrest could lead to the dismantling of other large-scale smuggling networks operating from Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. “We suspect that the ganja was intended for a supplier in Kochi. We need to interrogate Sudhira to obtain details about this buyer,” he says.
“Our operations have led to numerous drug busts in Kochi. We keep tabs on those involved in narcotics cases, gather intelligence from other agencies, and conduct joint operations.”
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