Synthetic drug seizure in Kozhikode: More suspects under scanner

The police have gathered reliable information on a chain of suspected synthetic drug pushers following the recent arrest of a man and his close aide with a huge cache of MDMA at Mukkom in Kozhikode district of Kerala. Some of them will be taken into custody soon as part of the continuing investigation into the drug seizure. 

It was on April 2 that the anti-narcotic squad seized nearly 3 kg of MDMA and arrested Mohammed Haneefa, 36, a native of Nileeshwaram, who reportedly headed the secret business. According to police sources, the man sourced the huge quantity of drugs using his secret network in Delhi. He had been under scanner for several months following a tip off from the local police.

“It was the largest quantity of MDMA seized by the police in recent times in Kerala. Several other local and national investigation agencies have sought the details of the suspects as part of the efforts to uncover the larger network behind him,” said a senior police officer with the investigation team. He said the custody of the suspect would be sought to make headway in the ongoing investigation. 

Officers with the District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force said the large-scale seizure was made after several months of close surveillance and tracking of Call Detail Records. Several frequent offenders in the field had been put under scanner to gather information about the secret suppliers in the field, they said. 

The police officers associated with the investigation also revealed that there were suspected involvement of international drug suppliers in the latest incident. The squads in the district had already arrested several foreign nationals, mainly Nigerian citizens, who colluded with the local drug pushers to flourish in the illegal business, they said. 

In view of the Assembly elections, the anti-narcotics squads are remaining alert against attempts to smuggle synthetic drugs. District and State-level borders are now under the close surveillance of various flying squads. The Government Railway Police and the Railway Protection Force have also been asked to stay alert as part of the heightened vigil.