The recent cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Mangaluru city indicate that the neighboring towns of Kasaragod and Uppala in Kerala are emerging as narcotics hubs.
MANGALURU: The recent cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Mangaluru city indicate that the neighboring towns of Kasaragod and Uppala in Kerala are emerging as narcotics hubs.
A team led by Mangaluru city police commissioner N Sashi Kumar and DCP Hariram Shankar is working extensively to contain the drug menace through intense intelligence gathering. This year, the city police have seized about 276 kg of ganja, 175.6 grams of MDMA tablets, 3 grams of MDMA powder, 21.1 grams of cocaine, 0.8 grams of heroin and 15.2 grams of LSD strips.
DCP Hariram Shankar told TOI, “We have been able to detect more cases of drugs because of focused efforts and coordination with the Kasaragod police.”
Referring to the recent cases, in which two raids were conducted and 200 kg of ganja seized after receiving information about MDMA, he said that these drugs were being transported to Uppala in Kasaragod. Even the recently confiscated LSD strips were to be sold in Mangaluru and Kasaragod. The week we seized 200 kg of ganja on May 26, the same week the Kasaragod police also seized about 240 kg of ganja. “These impressions indicate that Kasaragod is developing as a drug hub. Since Mangaluru and Kasaragod are neighboring cities, supplies and consumers are spread across both the cities. We have also seen that the final destination of most of the seized drugs is Kasaragod and especially Uppala. It is also suspected that from here it is distributed to the rest of the state and Mangaluru and border areas,” said Shankar.
The city police also noticed that the high-end drugs target mainly students. Peddlers have bought these drugs in the hope that educational institutions will reopen. So far this year, the city police have registered 209 NDPS cases and arrested 288 accused.
“The accused are often repeat offenders, and take advantage of inter-state borders to escape. The changing nature of high-end drugs, for example, allows LSD strips to resemble paper and MDMA in powder or crystal form, making it easier to disguise, and the expertise required by police to detect these substances. Happens,” the DCP said.
It is learned that hemp is mainly procured from Andhra Pradesh, and transported in vehicles carrying fish or vegetables.
FacebookTwitterLinkedinE-mail
.