A 23-year-old man was arrested on Sunday with 75 g MDMA during a joint inspection carried out by the District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force (DANSAF) team and Kollam East Police.
The arrested has been identified as Badusha, a resident of Badusha Manzil, Eravipuram. The accused had sourced the drug targeting engineering and medical students in and around Pallimukku, Kollam.
He was arrested on the basis of a tip-off received by District Police Chief (Kollam City) Merin Joseph through Kerala Police’s Yodhavu WhatsApp number, a system started by the department to get information from the public about drug abuse and distribution.
The man, who was a wholesale drug dealer, was nabbed from a spot near Kollam Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus stand, as part of a secret operation. The team was waiting based on the tip-off that he was bringing MDMA from Bengaluru. The synthetic drug was found hidden in his underwear.
As per Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), possession of more than 10 g MDMA is considered commercial quantity and is punishable with rigorous imprisonment of 10 to 20 years and a fine.
The accused was taken into custody by the DANSAF team under Additional SP Sony Oommen Koshy, led by SI Shihas and a team led by Kollam East SI Anilkumar, as per the directions of ACP Pradeep Kumar.
The anti-narcotics activities of the district police are coordinated by a police team under District Crime Branch ACP Zacharia Mathew. The anti-narcotics unit of the city police has seized more than one kg MDMA this year.
Public can contact 9995966666 to pass confidential information about gangs who distribute drugs.
