THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At a time when the entire government machinery is concentrating on carrying out relief work after the devastating flood, drug cartels, it seems, are trying to cash in on the golden opportunity.
With law enforcers busy, the peddlers believe they can sneak in the contraband from other states to Kerala. This was exposed recently with the arrest of three people near Technopark in Kazhakoottam while they were carrying narcotics to sell.
Excise officers from Kazhakoottam nabbed three people, all of them connected, between August 17 and 20 and altogether seized 700 gm of hashish oil, 460 nitrosun tablets and 2.1 kg of ganja. Kazhakoottam Range Inspector Pradeep Rao and his subordinates effected the arrests based on specific intel.
Radhakrishnan alias Luttappy, a 36-year-old history sheeter from Manacaud who has two murder cases registered against him, was the first person nabbed. He was picked up on August 17 while transporting 60 nitrosun tablets and 500 gm of ganja.
Upon interrogation, he spilled the beans on Ribin, 25, a fresh entrant to the crime scene and a resident of Karumam near Karamana. Ribin was arrested on August 19 from Kazhakoottam while attempting to peddle 400 nitrosun tablets and 500 gm of ganja. The information gleaned from Ribin led to the arrest of Mithun, 26, believed to be the ringleader of the gang, on August 20.
A resident of Sasthamangalam, Mithun was arrested while in possession of 700 gm of hashish oil and 1.1 kg of ganja. Excise Inspector Pradeep said the seizure of hashish oil made the case extraordinary. “The 700 gm of hashish oil is a commercial quantity and makes the case special,” he said.Excise sources said Mithun, an engineering graduate, used his connections in Bengaluru to procure the hashish oil. The substance was found filled in 60 ready-to-use syringes of 10 ml. The rest was seized during a raid at his house.Each syringe was expected to fetch `2,500 and was intended to be sold among a few new generation actors and IT professionals.
“The youth made handsome amounts of money by selling the oil in small quantities. He could make more than 10 times the amount needed to purchase it. Certain cine artists also were in his client list as he used to supply the drugs to them when they visited the city for shooting and other work,” Excise sources said.
“Now that the entire law and enforcement agencies are focusing on the rehabilitation of flood victims, drug rackets are trying to make a headway,” the sources said. Deputy Excise Commissioner Mohammed Ubaid said they were maintaining a tight vigil to ensure drug mafia didn’t utilise the time to their advantage.
The high-profit trade
700 gm hashish oil seized from the possession of Mithun, a Sasthamangalam native and engineering graduate
Rs 2,500 the estimated selling price of each syringe which was filled with the hashish oil