The Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery has become a transit point for the drug mafia smuggling narcotics to foreign countries. The Narcotics Control Bureau here this week seized massive quantities of heroin and ephedrine from passengers at the airport. One of the seizures helped the bureau bust a racket which operated by buying drugs from Delhi and smuggling them to Kuwait or Qatar using carriers.
“These drugs were not meant for consumption in Kochi. But they were bought in Delhi and channelled through Kochi to avoid the attention of law enforcement agencies. These drugs are also available cheap in Delhi,” said an official of the NCB. Officials suspect that the racket is operated by a gang based in Kuwait with associates in Kochi and Delhi. They allegedly hire people without criminal backgrounds from Kerala to act as carriers for the drugs.
Judging a book by its coverThe police put several scammers behind bars in the past one year for siphoning off crores of rupees from unsuspecting citizens. One element common to many of those running cons was their refined sartorial sense and communication skills. The police recently arrested a man whose alleged modus operandi stumped many an innocent person all over the State.
“The Thiruvananthapuram resident named Mathew cheated people by promising them jobs abroad. He stayed in cheap hotels near the railway station here, but he always made sure he was dressed in a suit and travelling in a car when he went to meet prospective victims. He also spoke good English, which prompted people to trust him,” said a police officer.
The city police also conducted a drive against illegal recruiting and travel agencies. Police raided about 70 establishments and registered cases against six of them for carrying on operations without valid licences. The erring agencies allegedly possessed passports and other important documents of several people and over Rs.7 lakh in cash paid by them. Police said that they received several complaints from people who went abroad believing the claims made by illegal travel agencies and returned without finding any jobs.
