Three, including woman, held with drugs from Kochi apartment

KOCHI: In a major haul, the Kochi Central Police and DANSAF (District Anti-Narcotic Special Action Force) arrested three persons, including a woman, from an apartment in the city with synthetic drugs. Sameer V K, 35, of Kasaragod, Ajmal Razaq, 32, of Kothamangalam, and Arya Chelat, 23, of Vypeen, were nabbed with MDMA pills, hashish oil and ganja worth lakhs of rupees, said the police. On a tip-off received on the ‘Yodhavu’ (Warrior), a mobile app through which the public can inform police about drug abuse and its distribution, the sleuths raided the apartment on Nettepadam Road.

Sameer, who returned from Malaysia after working there for several years, was running a hotel and stationery shop in Kochi and the drug sales were done under the cover of this business. “He had a wide friendship circle in the area. Besides, notorious gang members were also his aides,” said an officer. A total of 46gm of MDMA, 1.28 litres of hashish oil and 340gm of ganja were recovered from the apartment.

The woman is reportedly part of the gang involved in drug peddling. A detailed investigation into her links with the drug mafia is under way. The gang used to sell 1gm of MDMA for  Rs 6,000 and used to charge Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 for 3ml of hashish oil, added the police.“An investigation is under way to identify the source of the drug supply. The Central Police lodged an FIR in the case,” said Nagaraju C H, City Police Commissioner.

The ‘Yodhavu’ app was launched by the Kochi City Police last year to curb the growing drug menace. 
The public can send video and images apart from text messages via the app if they come across the activities of the drug mafia and the informer’s identity would be kept secret, said the police.The public can message via WhatsApp on the sale of drugs to 9995966666 (Yodhavu) or 9497980430 (DANSAF).