The Kasaba police arrested a Malappuram native with 288 grams of costly psychotropic drugs on Thursday. Shakeel Arshad, hailing from Malappuram’s Kakkanchery village, was nabbed when he reached Kozhikode to sell about 112 grams of smuggled MDMA to local peddlers.
The rest of the 176 grams of smuggled synthetic drugs, which were in the form of capsules and crystals, were recovered from his house at Kakkanchery. Police sources said the 34-year-old had been under the scanner for his involvement in similar drug trafficking cases.
“Since it is a major seizure, strong legal measures including the forfeiture of his assets will be initiated. He is suspected to be a key link between various drug trafficking gangs,” said a senior police officer attached to the Narcotic Cell. He also said the seized synthetic drugs were worth ₹40 lakh in the foreign market.
Apart from the synthetic drugs, the man had kept a huge cache of ecstasy tablets, LSD stamps, hashish oil, and hollowed tubes used for consuming drugs, at his house. Kasaba Inspector N. Prajeesh, who led the squad, said the seized LSD stamps, tablets, and hashish oil were worth crores of rupees in the international market.
The police zeroed in on the suspect with the support of the District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force (DANSAF) and City Crime Squad. Sub Inspector Manoj Edayedath and Senior Civil Police Officer K. Akhilesh were part of the main team that nabbed the man.
