Two persons of a drug racket allegedly involved in selling synthetic drugs in car across the city were arrested with 7 grams of MDMA by the Excise department on Tuesday.
The arrested are Amil Chandran, 28, a resident of Kollam now residing at Elamakkara and Abhijith, 30, of Elamakkara. They were nabbed during a joint operation by the State Excise Enforcement Squad, Excise Intelligence, and the Ernakulam Special Squad. A car, two smartphones, and a nano weighing machine were seized from them.
The two were involved in criminal cases, the Excise department said. They were reportedly involved in drug peddling for long but were being caught for the first time. They were booked with charges entailing 10 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹1 lakh.
The State Excise Enforcement Squad had intensified probe after receiving information about the racket. In the process, it was found that Amil had been operating around six cabs in the city. The enforcement officials had since then tracked down the car in which the accused constantly moved around and had put them under surveillance.
Excise officials said the accused used to pack drugs in cigarette packets and hurled them towards clients from the car itself. The officials then followed the accused and surrounded them when, at Punnakkal Junction at Elamakkara, they were allegedly waiting for their clients.
The attempt by Abhijeeth to flee did not succeed. During the interrogation, the accused allegedly claimed that they used to sell drugs for anywhere between ₹3,000 and ₹7,000 per gram depending on the demand.
They were part of a racket, including women, that sourced drugs from Goa and smuggled into Kochi, the Excise said. “We have information about other members of the racket, and more arrests are likely in the coming days,” said Assistant Commissioner T. Anilkumar who heads the State Enforcement Squad.
The arrested were produced in court and remanded.
