Kochi City Police to turn saviour of youth falling prey to drug mafia

KOCHI:  Following the success of Kochi City Police’s Operation King Cobra which helped rein-in several anti-social activities, authorities are planning to take the drive to the next level. The police will devise an action plan intended at total elimination of the drug mafia. According to City Police Commissioner S Surendran, the department will conceive a comprehensive plan based on feedback from cops.

“Since youths are easily falling prey to drugs, we are planning to introduce an innovative programme when the new academic year begins. We are carrying out research for this and coming up with options other than awareness programmes,” said Surendran who added the programme is still at its initial stage. The Commissioner said the ‘Operation King Cobra’ will reach fruition only with complete elimination of drug menace in the city. The operation is a brainchild of Surendran, who earlier served as Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner.

Youth today prefer synthetic drugs to ganja. The Commissioner said various factors are leading youths to the trap. “MDMA drug abuse is the latest trend. Youth receive a high for 36 hours while on LSD stamps. Hence they have little interest on ganja and liquor”, said an officer.

As per the figures available with the police, 190 persons were arrested in narcotic peddling cases and165 cases registered under Operation King Cobra. 100 kg of ganja were recovered. City Police Commissioner said the anti-social elements and narcotics were inter-linked. “Hence the drive against anti-social activities will definitely hit drug peddlers. In order to curb the menace, we have to cut down the source of the supply of the drug, its availability and the persons involved in the network.”

The ‘Connect to Commissioner’ initiative of the police encouraging the public to call up the Kochi City Police Commissioner has led to the arrest of nearly 3,000 persons having criminal antecedents. The cops are receiving reliable messages from residents across the city to gather more information regarding anti-social activities.

Operation King Cobra 
Raids        200
Cases        165
No.of persons arrested    190
Ganja        100kg
Hashish        1kg
Charas        750 gm