Notwithstanding hiccups in transportation caused by the pandemic, ganja continues to flow into the district but largely goes untraced thanks to the restrictive enforcement regimen in place owing to the pandemic, said Excise sources.
While the pandemic seems to have put brakes on the movement of costlier synthetic drugs, since there are fewer takers due to the overall drop in income, the same cannot be said of the relatively cheaper ganja. Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu continue to be the main sources of the drug in Kerala going by the few major seizures across the State during the pandemic.
“Enforcement is now more or less restricted to specific inputs owing to the hurdles posed by the pandemic. We are now focussing on gathering intel for more targeted drives,” said T.S. Sasikumar, Excise Assistant Commissioner, Ernakulam.
He added that the smuggling in of ganja had been hit by the pandemic, driving up its prices considerably owing to limited supply. A satchel of 5 grams previously sold at ₹500 now reaps upwards of ₹2,000.
However, officials associated with grassroots-level enforcement contradict the theory, maintaining that neither is there any significant drop in ganja smuggling nor has its prices soared. “The fact is that suppliers can hardly afford to raise the price without driving away potential customers, as income remains severely hit,” said an official who instead attributed the fewer catches to administrative complications in the wake of COVID-19.
Earlier, while the accused in a drug seizure could be produced in court and remanded in less than 24 hours, it has now turned a laborious process running into a couple of days at least. The accused caught in a drug seizure has to be first subjected to COVID-19 test at a facility at Potta near Chalakudy in Thrissur, following which he will have to be kept in the cell at the Excise station concerned till the results are out. He can be produced in court and remanded only if the test returns negative.
“Considering this headache, not to mention the risk of exposure to the infection due to close proximity to the accused, there is this tendency to turn a blind eye. While our informant networks remain active and continue to give tip-offs, even the otherwise driven among the enforcement personnel prefer not to take the initiative lest they risk inviting the wrath of other staff for ‘endangering’ them,” the official said.