KOCHI: The district police had seized over 700kg of ganja since January 2021. Statistics from the police show that 730kg of ganja, 3.5kg of hashish oil and 2.6kg of MDMA were seized during the period.
The numbers clearly indicate that huge quantities of ganja were smuggled into the state.
As per the statistics, the number of seizures of drugs in commercial quantities is high in Ernakulam rural, while the number of people arrested for peddling and possession of drugs are high in the city region.
According to experts, rural police are intercepting many attempts to smuggle large consignments of ganja through the highways, thereby increasing the high-volume ganja seizures.
On the other hand, the number of drug users are high in the city and more small-time dealers land in the net of the city police.
District police chief (Ernakulam rural) K Karthick says that strong intelligence collection and regular follow-ups on every tip is leading to the seizures.
“The NH47, NH17 and the MC Road pass through our jurisdiction. We have strengthened the intelligence network and are continuously keeping previous offenders under surveillance. We are getting a lot of information and 90% of the tips never yield any results. But we still follow up on each one of that and conduct drives based on the tips. Some of them give results. What we seize may not be destined for Ernakulam alone, it could have been on the way to districts like Alappuzha or Idukki, when we seize them,” said Karthick.
As per the data, another worrying trend is the high amounts of synthetic drugs seized in the district. In a reply given by the narcotics cell of the Kochi police to a complaint filed by a private individual, 800 LSD stamps and 311g of MDMA were seized from January 2021 till January 2022.
Rural police had seized 2.3kg MDMA from 2022 till March 2022. In November 2020, rural police had seized 49 LSD stamps as well.
Accused are now even trying to smuggle ganja via couriers. Both rural and city police had seized such cases over the past year. Also, young women are getting caught in narcotic cases. Three women were arrested in this way by the rural police recently.
As per the response, city police have identified 27 hotspots in the city where there have been reports of more than five cases of drug abuse. City police have strengthened surveillance and checking in this area, the response says.
Officials said that the number of cases which had comparatively decreased due to the pandemic was drastically rising again after the restrictions were lifted. City police recorded 162 narcotic cases in January alone this year while rural police registered 340 cases till the end of March this year. Police have urged the public to remain alert about this deadly menace.
