KOCHI: Enhanced police surveillance under ‘Operation Toofan’ has forced drug rackets in Kochi to abandon traditional hand-to-hand delivery methods and adopt a secret new system that they refer to as the “drop point” strategy.
Investigators said the tactic is designed to reduce direct contact between suppliers and customers, making detection more difficult.
Instead of physically handing over drugs, gangs now hide narcotics at pre-decided locations and send customers either the exact coordinates or visual clues through encrypted messaging platforms.
One gang member silently monitors the drop location until the package is collected, said police sources.
The existence of this strategy came into sharper focus after the Kochi City Police arrested 36 people during Wednesday’s Operation Toofan raids across the city. One of the biggest seizures was made from a flat in Thrikkakara, where 434.46g of MDMA, `1 lakh in cash, and an Audi car allegedly used by a three-member gang involved in drug distribution were confiscated.
During interrogation, the accused reportedly confessed that they regularly sourced synthetic drugs from Delhi and Bengaluru and relied heavily on the “drop point” model to distribute narcotics to customers in Kochi.
“They select drop points depending on the quantity,” a senior police officer said. “If it is two or three grams, they may hide it inside a tree cavity or beneath a bench in a park and alert the customer. For larger quantities, say 10kg of ganja or 500g of MDMA, they usually use isolated vacant plots covered with weeds or abandoned areas.”
“If rain or other factors threaten the package, it’s the duty of the gang member monitoring the spot to secure it without attracting attention,” said the officer.
Police sources said many gangs operate with an unwritten territorial understanding over drop locations.
“There are areas controlled by specific gangs. Otherwise, one location may end up having multiple parcels, which increases the risk of exposure,” a police officer said, quoting a peddler. “Sometimes, they keep drugs inside empty liquor bottles to protect it from rain. However, they also have to ensure scrap collectors or others do not accidentally pick them up.”
Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said the tactic was an improved version of the modus operandi of interstate ganja trafficking syndicates operating through train routes.
“We earlier detected cases where traffickers from Odisha, West Bengal and other states dumped narcotics into vacant plots near railway tracks and later shared the location with receivers in Kerala. The Kochi model appears to be its upgraded urban version,” a senior DRI officer said.
Investigators suspect the model may already be active in multiple districts, where ordinary public spaces turn invisible narcotics exchange points operating under the nose of law enforcement agencies.
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