The special enforcement squads of the Police and Excise Departments are on high alert to track suspicious movement of migrant workers, whose involvement in inter-State drug smuggling has been found to be on the rise.
The investigators suspect that a major portion of narcotic substances is smuggled into the State with the support of migrant workers. The frequent trips undertaken by migrants have also led the sleuths to smell a rat.
The Government Railway Police (GRP) squad is now maintaining high vigil in all long distance trains with the support of the Railway Protection Force. All suspicious consignments, especially baggage not under the custody of passengers in compartments, will be checked.
During a recent drive, several cartons of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) were seized by the squad on the Kozhikode-Kannur stretch. Although no major arrests have been made, the GRP squad leaders claim that they have put an end to the easy shipping of smuggled IMFL by train.
The police say majority of migrant workers are addicted to alcohol, pan masala and other cheap narcotic substances and they prompt them to be traders in the sector. Since local traders do not handle banned substances fearing legal action, the migrants try to source it from within their community, they add.
The Excise Department has been on alert for months, conducting flash searches in suspected areas where migrants camp for odd jobs. Operation Bhai, a special drive, is also under way in Kozhikode.
An Excise officer says his team recently nabbed a West Bengal native who sold narcotic substances and tranquilizer drugs after bringing them from his State by train.
Though some local bodies attempted to issue identity cards to migrant workers, it was proving to be a failure with the floating population. A Special Branch project to collect details and fingerprints of the workers also remained a non-starter due to poor cooperation from their employers.
