MYSURU: With the Mumbai Police busting an alleged mephedrone (MD) drug manufacturing racket on Outer Ring Road in Mysuru, the major seizure has put Kerala and Tamil Nadu police on alert along Karnataka’s borders leading down south.
The Mumbai Police team carried out raids and allegedly seized 187.97 kg of mephedrone worth Rs 381.96 crore at the factory, exposing the Mysuru Police’s deep slumber and raising eyebrows in a city known as a pensioners’ paradise.
Many residents are now questioning the steps taken to contain drug peddling in the city, which has the highest tourist footfall in the state and hosts several educational institutions with students from southern states.
Though the city police claim to have seized 170 kg of ganja in the past two years, along with MDMA, no concrete or aggressive measures have been implemented to keep a check on peddlers, particularly with student consumption allegedly pushing up sales.
Police have now begun a face-saving exercise by intensifying searches, seizing 5 kg of ganja, arresting peddlers and registering cases to assure their higher-ups of action.
Sources in the Anti-Narcotics Cell of Sakinaka Police Station in Mumbai noted that those allegedly involved in the racket believed Mysuru to be a safe haven for their operations, an impression that may irk Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who hails from the city.
Sources added that the drug mafia allegedly used Mysuru as a tri-junction to transport narcotics to Kerala through Wayanad on the Karnataka–Kerala border, where it would then be peddled further down south. The same syndicate allegedly routed drugs into Tamil Nadu via Chamarajanagar and Sathyamangalam to reach major cities.
Highly placed sources observed that the mafia exploited isolated farmhouses, godowns and sheds along the Ring Road and in industrial areas, as well as some farms in Vijayanagar, Hebbal, Metagalli and other police station limits, to allegedly store and distribute drugs to southern states.
The peddlers are also allegedly supplying drugs through private carriers transporting essential items, including arecanut powder, supari and other sachets with unique blends designed to evade detection during vehicle checks. The bust has reportedly led to heightened vigilance among police officers, who are now monitoring goods carriers and private vehicles more closely.
Police have allegedly failed to inspect the numerous farms, godowns and abandoned properties in and around the city that may have been misused. Veteran officers believe all private goods carriers must have GPS installed and be tracked within the city and en route to their destinations.
They also pointed out the need for random checks of street vendors and vehicles parked near colleges in the evenings and nights, as they could allegedly double as drug suppliers. They suggested the formation of dedicated anti-drug squads under the Police Commissioner, similar to anti-rowdy squads.
In New Delhi, Mysuru BJP MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar raised the issue of the mephedrone drug manufacturing racket. “Drugs worth ₹390 crore were busted in Mysuru, and what does Karnataka’s Home Minister say? ‘We failed’. These are not isolated incidents; they are the hallmark achievements of the Karnataka government under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. When a minister admits, ‘We failed,’ it’s not just a lapse, it’s a collapse of governance,” he wrote on X.
The Mysuru drug case has ignited political heat, with BJP leaders demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Home Minister G Parameshwara over the alleged failure of the Mysuru Police.
They staged protests and have threatened to intensify their agitation if police fail to arrest the kingpins involved. Kannada activists have also joined the stir, raising several questions to the Mysuru Police and the government.