Thiruvananthapuram: With Kochi figuring prominently on the drug radar of late, the state Excise Department and the Central Intelligence Bureau (IB) are in hot pursuit of a man, who is believed to be the kingpin of a racket smuggling narcotics into the region.
The sleuths stumbled upon the drug trail during the interrogation of a recently arrested drug peddler, that could lead them to ‘Ali’, said to be Kochi’s elusive drug kingpin.
The seizure of methylenedioxy methamphetamine (MDMA) worth Rs 200 crore from a private courier company on the MG Road in Kochi two months ago, claimed to be the
biggest ever drug haul in the history of the excise department, indicated that the city has become a transit hub of international drug trafficking. Acting on a tip-off received by A S Ranjith, Divisional Deputy Excise Commissioner, Ernakulam, sleuths raided the courier service firm and seized 30 kg of the contraband concealed in a parcel arrived from Chennai.
MDMA is commonly known as ecstasy.
The probe to identify the sender of the consignment led the investigators to the involvement of a Malaysia-based international drug trafficking syndicate. It was revealed that the cartel had been using Tamil Nadu’s coastline for ferrying large quantities of contraband to Malaysia through Kochi. However, officials admit that it is hard to conduct raids and hunt down drug smuggling gangs based in coastal areas due the clandestine nature of their operations and the terrain’s complex topography. That exactly was the reason why the state excise department sought the assistance of the IB to uncover the tentacles of the racket.
Crucial breakthrough
The IB sleuths made an instant impact in the investigation into the MDMA haul by nabbing the prime accused, Prasanth Kumar, from Chennai a month after foiling the smuggling attempt.
During the interrogation by excise and IB officials, he confessed to have smuggled narcotics into Kochi once in the past. He also revealed to the interrogators that cartels had been using Kochi a transit and shipment point for routing consignments to Malaysia.
Prasanth, a native of Kannur, has been living in Tamil Nadu since childhood. Prasanth told the sleuths that the contraband was supplied to him by one Ali and the two had visited Kochi together before, but he knew little about the man and his whereabouts. Ever since the IB has been trying to track Ali down and the officials are optimistic that he would landin their net soon. We would be able to establish the supply chain further and the origin of the drug only if managed to lay hands on Ali,” said a senior official, requesting anonymity.
Prasanth, 36, who was brought to Kochi, is in judicial custody now.
Staff shortage cripples Excise Dept
In a city like Kochi, where several drug-related cases are reported on a daily basis, the workload on officers is excessive.
The total staff strength of the state excise department is 5,568. Since there is no separate section for taking up clerical tasks, most of the officials are unable to perform the core functions as they are confined to their offices often, they lamented.
Though the police force has a separate wing for investigating cases, no such system is in place in the excise department. Apart from shortage of manpower, the department is ill-equipped to handle high-profile cases. Officers entrusted with investigations are forced to perform administrative tasks as well. Though excise personnel make sincere attempts to crack a case, they fail to make any headway in the probe due to factors beyond their control. To make matters worse, unlike the police, the excise department is not authorised to obtain telephone call data records (CDRs) of suspected persons.Getting call records from the phone service providers with the help of the police is cumbersome and time-consuming. The state government has so far ignored the repeated pleas for setting up a special wing for dealing with drug-peddling cases.
The Kochi MDMA seizure case was registered by Excise special squad circle inspector B Suresh. As per a recent ruling by the Supreme Court, the official conducting the raid or arresting the accused with contraband should not be made investigating officer of that case. The case is now being investigated by divisional assistant excise commissioner (enforcement) Ashok Kumar T A. There is only one assistant commission post in each district.
