A special squad led by Assistant Commissioner P. Bijuraj has been constituted to bust the network of suspected synthetic drug pushers in the city.
The action comes close on the heels of a major drug haul by the police on Wednesday seizing 794 grams of hashish oil and 256 grams of MDMA from a 38-year-old drug pusher from Nallalam who allegedly has sales networks in various south-eastern coastal regions and north Indian States.
“The police custody of Jaisal, the accused in the latest case of smuggling synthetic and semi-synthetic drugs worth ₹30 lakh, will be sought soon as part of the probe into various drug trafficking cases,” said Mr. Bijuraj who led the city police team that nabbed the accused. He added that the man was carrying out the secret trade with the support of a popular instant messaging app.
Preliminary investigation found that the carriers in the business were largely misusing inter-State trucks for the smuggling of synthetic and semi-synthetic drugs. According to police sources, many of the carriers in the business are reportedly in alliance with truck drivers who transport vegetables and fruits from various States to Kerala. Flash checking at various district borders will be intensified to expose such attempts, they said.
The District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force and crime squads will be joining the new special squad based on the directive from District Police Chief (Kozhikode City) Rajpal Meena. According to the squad members, efforts are on to retrieve the social media chats and voice messages of the newly arrested drug pusher to zero in on his close aides. Support of Special Protection Groups functioning among students will also be sought to expose underage drug pushers in the illicit network, they said.
Police sources said they also came to know the trickery of some of the drug pushers recently who obtained loans from various financial institutions and used it as a cover to hide the actual revenue they generated from synthetic drug trade. There were also a few who borrowed money from their close friends to create a false impression that they were really struggling to survive, the sources said.
