The Excise Department will seek assistance of the Interpol to nab members of a drug cartel that attempted to smuggle synthetic drugs worth ₹30 crore through Nedumbassery, Excise Commissioner Rishiraj Singh said.
Addressing the media here on Saturday, Mr. Singh said the department had vital information regarding other members of the racket, including its kingpin Bhai, who is based out of West Asia.
He also spoke of the plans to deploy a special team to follow up the case, besides coordinating with various agencies, including the CISF, and the airport operators to check drug smuggling.
“We have information regarding Keralites running drug cartels in as many as five foreign countries and the recent arrest from Nedumbassery was just one among them,” Mr. Singh said.
He said the drug dealers primarily deployed passengers on visit visa as carriers while instructions were being sent directly to their phone through computers.
Meanwhile, the sleuths had identified a network covering States from Madhya Pradesh to Karnataka for trafficking drugs to Kerala. Based on the findings, consultations were on with the anti-narcotic agencies in these States to plug these routes.
“These racketeers always make sure that several people at different locations are in action at a single point of time so that the contraband changed hands quickly,” he explained.
Pointing out that the State faced a potential health crisis in the form of drug abuse, Mr.Singh said there had been a considerable rise in abuse of prescription drugs. He said the department would join hands with the Narcotics Control Bureau and the Drug Control Bureau to check the trend.
“Instead of waiting for high-priced drugs from abroad, people are purchasing drugs, mainly analgesics, from drug stores using old prescriptions while there is hardly any system in place to monitor it,” Mr. Singh said.
