Despite efforts by various enforcement agencies, the number of youngsters using narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances (NDPS) has increased considerably, according to the official statistics of the Kerala police.
As many as 1,673 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act were registered in Kochi city alone in 2017, as against 1,164 cases recorded in the previous year. The cases registered in the Ernakulam Rural district rose at a much higher rate to 1,224 from just 225 cases in 2016.
The total number of drugs cases registered under the Kochi Range comprising Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Idukki districts stood at 3,779 – a sharp rise from 2,330 cases in 2016, and 1,789 in 2015.
P. Vijayan, Inspector General of Police (Kochi Range), attributed the sharp rise in cases to a drug culture taking root among youths. “There is a definite case of more people taking to drugs and checking this trend was our top priority. Hence, range-level anti-narcotics teams were formed, which, beyond the good-old sources of intelligence, also liaised with Central enforcement agencies to collect, collate and disseminate intelligence on the supply side of drugs,” he said.
The squad was constituted in the wake of a potential public health crisis faced by Kerala in the form of drug abuse.
Abkari cases
Besides, the number of cases registered in connection with bootlegging and related activities has also increased considerably from the previous year in both the police districts. In Kochi city, 6,448 cases were registered under the Abkari Act as against 5,374 cases in 2016. The number of cases in the rural region, however, came down to 3,870 from 5,050 cases. The total number of bootlegging cases reported across Kochi range, meanwhile, was 17,905, just three more cases from last year.
