Rain, storm don’t deter mafia smuggling drugs into Kerala
KOCHI: It seems the heavy rain and cyclone alert in Chennai and Andhra Pradesh have not deterred drug traffickers targeting Kerala as the rackets are taking all types of risks to procure the contraband and traffick the same to the state. Drug trafficking through courier services from Bengaluru is also rampant now, according to enforcement agencies.
The trafficking of drugs from neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra is at an all-time high, say officials. Officers of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Kochi Sub Zone, intercepted a parcel in Thiruvananthapuram on November 16 and recovered 244gm of amphetamine, 25 LSD stamps, and 2gm of methaqualone, all psychotropic substances.
The substances were found to be concealed in a gift parcel containing chewing gum, which was difficult to detect initially. The parcel was sent through a courier agency from Bengaluru. Subsequently, the person, who was the receiver of the parcel, was apprehended. The NCB Bengaluru team confiscated 40gm of methamphetamine from a courier parcel in the city on November 11.
The parcel was destined to Thiruvananthapuram and the receiver was picked up from the Kerala capital. “The drug mafia operating from other states are targeting youths in Kerala and interestingly, youths from Kerala are acting as middlemen and traffickers. Ganja is being trafficked mainly from Andhra Pradesh while MDMA and other synthetic drugs are coming from Chennai and Bengaluru,” said an officer. Four youths were arrested at Kariyadu junction near Angamaly on Saturday while smuggling 160gm of MDMA pills by concealing them under the steering wheel of a car.
The youths procured the drug from Bengaluru and smuggled it to the state to supply it to youngsters. “Unlike ganja, effects of synthetic drugs last for several hours and they are commonly used during parties. It is learned that the Bengaluru racket sourced the drug from abroad and smuggled it to Kerala to sell it at prices several times higher than the market rate,” said a source. “We will interrogate the accused in detail after getting them in our custody. Besides, a detailed inquiry will be carried out into the inter-state links of the persons,” said Ernakulam Rural SP K Karthick.
The Ernakulam Rural police foiled several drug trafficking attempts recently. They arrested three persons including a woman while trying to smuggle 225kg of ganja in two cars at Karukutti near Angamaly on November 9. In June last year, 2kg of MDMA was seized and a Chennai native who was the middleman of the drug deal was arrested. Illegal ganja cultivation in the country is largely concentrated around the Naxal-infested Andhra- Odisha border areas. Ganja from this region finds its way across the country. While seizures have been increasing, traffickers have started using different types of vehicles to transport drugs by road, said sources with the NCB.
Dangerous side-effects
Methamphetamine and other synthetic drugs are very potent and dangerous stimulants. The side effects are dangerous on the human body. It affects the central nervous system. Continued usage can lead to problems including heart attacks, memory lapses, hallucination and seizures, said an official release of NCB.