THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With no let up in the circulation of drugs, police officials are forced to employ a number of strategies to nab the peddlers. On rare occasions, the peddlers themselves fall into the snare the the officers have laid out, oblivious of the fact that several undercover operations are underway to snuff out this menace.
On one such occasion, the Palarivattom police were able to trap two Malappuram youths and recovered from them 54.46 grams of MDMA. It all started on August 25 this year, when the officers intercepted a 25-year-old woman who was deboarding a bus at Palarivattom.
“The woman, who hailed from Azhikode, had nine grams of MDMA in her possession. We were certain that she had links to a major drug peddler. On questioning, she confessed the name of one Bengaluru man, Sougesh. According to her, he was supplying drugs to people from Kerala in bulk quantity,” an officer says.
On September 5, officers reached Bengaluru and nabbed Sougesh. “We knew that he was a big shot. He was supplying MDMA, procured in illegal manufacturers, in bulk quantity. We knew that Sougesh would cough up names. So, we brought him to Palarivattom,” the officer adds.
However, the man proved a tough nut to crack. By luck, Sougesh’s phone began to ring whilst the officers were questioning him. “The man on the other end of the call was Mehroof of Keezhaparambu, Malappuram. We gave the phone to Sougesh and asked him to carry on with the conversation in an effort to glean more details,” the officer elaborates.
“Mehroof, who had bought 150 grams of MDMA from Sougesh, had called to complain about its quality. Mehroof said he had about 54.46 grams of MDMA left and demanded that it be taken back or replaced with good quality stuff.” Officers instructed Sougesh to tell Mehroof that he would replace what the latter had with superior quality MDMDA, but with a caveat – Mehroof had to come to Kochi to collect it. Sougesh, as directed by the officers, told Mehroof to reach Palarivattom.
“In the conversation, Mehroof also revealed the registration number of the car, its colour and make, and the name of his friend who would be accompanying him – Muhammed Rashid,” the officer notes.
Soon, the Cyber Cell tracked the location of Mehroof. “We deployed a team to follow the vehicle from Aluva. Our police team were ready to intercept the vehicle. We successfully blocked the car and ensured that they did not escape,” the officer says.
Police recovered a a shoulder bag from the car. The MDMA was concealed inside a toothpaste.
The duo in the car confessed that they procure MDMA from major peddlers in Bengaluru and sell it in Kozhikode and Kochi. Both were produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody.
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