The anti-rowdy squad of Mangaluru South Division Police on Tuesday apprehended a gang of four and seized 10 kg ganja worth ₹ 2 lakh besides a car, a scooter and three mobile phones.
“We are now at eliminating the main suppliers of drugs,” Police Commissioner P.S. Harsha told reporters here on Wednesday.
The police have launched an operation against drug abuse and have so far apprehended over 20 peddlers. The four arrested appear to be those acting between the main growers of marijuana and peddlers, he said.
Dr. Harsha gave the names of the accused as Abubakar Samad (24), Mohammed Ashraf (30), Mohammed Afrid (22) and Mohammed Arshad (18), all residents of Manjeshwar taluk in the Kasargod district of neighbouring Kerala. They were arrested near Thokkottu, off Mangaluru.
The Commissioner said that the police would now go to the roots of the supply chain — forward as well as backward — and nail all the accused.
“Howsoever influential the accused may be, the police would not spare anyone; we have all the support from the State government,” he said.
Besides getting in touch with the Mumbai Police to know more about the accused and their network since the car used for transporting ganja bore a Mumbai registration mark, the police would also consult the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to crack the network, Dr. Harsha said.
The operation was led by Assistant Commissioner of Police (South) T. Kodandaram and his team comprising K.V. Mohan, Sunil Kumar, Girish, Ravichandra, Reji, Rajaram, Dayanand, Damodar, Mahesh, Mohammed Sharief and Mohammed Iqbal.
