The police and the Excise department have kept a number of newly identified drug spots in Kozhikode district under surveillance as part the crackdown on drug pushers in view of the Onam season. Officers coordinating the special drive said several seizures had already been made with the support of informants and plainclothesmen on the field.
Flash checking
Flash checking of vehicles covering important stretches of national and State highways is under way.
District borders and rural roads connected to the highways are under the radar of anti-narcotics squads.
“More preventive measures are under consideration in the wake of the fresh call made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan while addressing the Kerala Police Officers’ State convention to step up action against drug trafficking. Lists of frequent offenders are now available with all the local police stations to take follow-up actions,” said a senior police officer. He added that the hi-tech cell of the police was tracking movements of all suspects.
District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force members said that all those who were recently nabbed for drug trafficking had been part of the inter-State network of drug pushers who dealt with huge quantities of smuggled synthetic drugs targeting students and youngsters. It was after several months of probe that six of the key suspects were nabbed, they said.
There were around 25 drug hot spots in Kozhikode city alone in the list initially prepared by the police which was later expanded by adding more spots.
Mobile unit sought
Excise department sources also sought the deployment of a State-level mobile intervention unit supported by strike forces and the opening of district-level control rooms to strengthen the crackdown. Joint raids with the support of the Government Railway Police, Anti-Narcotics Squad and Forest teams would be carried out in identified locations, they said.
