THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The anti-drug agencies in the state have stepped up their vigil as coca harvest season is about to start in December in Latin American countries. Coca leaves are the basic ingredient for cocaine, a highly addictive and illegal drug, which in its purest form could fetch upto Rs5,000 per gram in India. Coca leaves are cultivated in large scale in the Latin American countries, including Columbia - home to the dread Cali cartel - which had produced over 1,200 tonne of cocaine in 2017.
Though Kerala seldom featured in the list of cocaine cases before September 2017, since November last year four instances of cocaine seizures have been recorded in the state.
All the seizures were effected from Kochi during the November 2017 - May 2018 period and foreign nationals were involved in all the four cases. About 11.5 kg of cocaine was seized from them, of which 4.8 kg was recovered from a Filipino.Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal director A Bruno said coca harvest usually takes place four times a year, with December being the last harvesting season.
“Harvest of coca leaves in South America rings alarm bell here among anti-drug agencies,” he said.
Sources, meanwhile, said Kochi prominently features in the radar of anti-drug agencies as four cocaine carriers were nabbed from the city within a span of six months.
“ Four cases of cocaine haul is not a small number. And when it happens within a small time frame, the agencies take it seriously,” sources said. NCB data shows from June 2015 - September 2017, hardly any case of cocaine seizures were reported from Kerala, which shows cocaine’s arrival in Kerala is a recent development.
Cases related to cocaine seizures have increased in India over the years. In 2013, the number of cocaine cases stood at 78, which rose to 82 in 2014. The number of cases in 2015, 2016 and 2017 were 100, 81 and 132, respectively.
To tackle the scourge, the anti-drug agencies and other investigative agencies will hold separate and joint meetings this month-end to chalk out an action plan. The Excise Department is also aware of the threat as they have procured almost two dozens of special drug detection kits from NCB to streamline the detection tests.
The official handing over of the kits was held on Thursday here. Excise sources said the kits were procured for better identification of various drugs.NCB sources said they had distributed kits to Excise earlier also. But this time more kits were delivered to meet the demand.