Kozhikode
Noticing the suspicious involvement of migrant workers in the smuggling and resale of narcotic substances, the police have intensified their surveillance and patrolling activities around the migrant workers’ settlements in different parts of the district. Both the local police and plainclothesmen appointed by the District Anti-Narcotic Special Action Force (DANSAF) will keep an eye on such suspected camps.
In some of the recent investigations, the police found that migrant workers have been exploring their connections in their native States for shipping narcotic stuff and the secret reselling of the smuggled items. Some of their local connections have been found emerging as carriers for their friends to get quick returns.
According to police sources, a few migrant workers, who were earlier part of drug trafficking activities and came to Kerala for odd jobs, are suspected of returning to the old business with the support of some native peddlers. Many of them are also suspected of developing inter-State connections to flourish in the business, they reveal.
“In the last four days’ raids, we managed to arrest three persons from two migrant labour camps in the Kozhikode city limits. Nearly 7 kg of ganja and other small quantities of psychotropic drugs were seized from them,” said a police official from Kasaba station. He said the information passed by the arrested persons would expose a few more soon in the days to come.
Sources with DANSAD say migrant workers from Odisha have been found largely turning their attention towards drug trafficking with their access to the large-scale suppliers in their native State. For them, the availability of the weed varieties cheap is a lucrative source of profit in various South Indian States by selling them at a very high margin, they say.
Following confidential reports that many such migrants had purchased and stocked huge stocks for resale here, the checking squads are preparing to carry out flash inspections simultaneously in multiple locations. Efforts are also under way to collect information from various local sources, including the members of panchayat-level anti-drug vigilance committees, as part of the intensified action.
“In some of the recent investigations, we have also come across increasing cases of drug addiction among migrant workers. Many of them are regular clients of the migrant drug peddlers,” said a civil police officer, who was part of the recent raids. He said that such addicts were prone to engage in other criminal activities.
