Recent spate of narcotic seizures have lend credence to findings that the State capital is fast growing into a transit hub for drug syndicates that have gradually found a growing market for potent variants in the region.
The law enforcement agencies have managed to confiscate roughly 40kg of marijuana in the last three months in the city with around 20 persons being arrested. With these, the ganja haul recorded this year has surpassed over 250 kg, enforcing claims the region witnessed a burgeoning clientele. There has also been an increase in seizures of hashish oil, which is processed in units that are now suspected to be spread in places including Idukki. Ganja, the raw material sourced from the Naxal-dominated forests of Andhra Pradesh found their way to such units before they were smuggled out of the country from Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi or Thoothukudi, either by airway or by waterway, sources said.
With the recent seizure of 6.4 kg of hashish oil by the Excise department, close to 35 kg of the contraband have been confiscated this year. Four Maldivian nations were among those arrested. The pattern of seizures have led sleuths to believe that attempts were being made to smuggle narcotic substances to Maldives via. Thiruvananthapuram or nearby regions.
“With the foreign hand becoming evident in the trade, the probe in these cases should be taken up by Central agencies. . The racket is funding terrorism,” the official said.