THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Excise sleuths on Monday night arrested a 27-year-old data engineer working in a leading IT firm while he was smuggling a commercial quantity of MDMA. Midhun Murali, a native of Murukkumpuzha and residing on rent near Kulathoor, was arrested at Manvila with 32g of MDMA, an excise source said. A minor quantity of ganja and `75,000 he had reportedly gained from drug peddling were also seized.
The excise sleuths said Midhun has been under their radar for sometime after they managed to ascertain his involvement in drug business. Interestingly, Midhun never used drugs but focused on peddling as he found it a lucrative business, said an excise officer.
The MDMA seized from Midhun was meant to be sold to the Technopark employees. According to excise sources, they have been aware of the rise in drug use among Technopark employees. However, the practical difficulties in conducting a full-fledged operation inside the Technopark premise have come up as a handicap, said the source.
“There are rackets that exclusively peddle drugs among IT professionals. They work like a well-oiled machinery and have even gotten their members working inside Technopark. It’s tough to crackdown on these rackets as we cannot conduct enforcement operations within the campus. As of now, we take action against the IT professionals involved in drug abuse and peddling when they are outside the campus,” said an excise officer.
“Some of the employees are actively engaged in drug peddling. They operate on a law profile. It’s not just low-income earners who are into peddling. Highly-paid employees are also involved,” the officer added.