Kochi: The excise wing in the city has arrested a youth for allegedly selling synthetic drugs to school and college students. Ronnie Zakharia, 35, was arrested as part of the Excise Department’s Operation Clean Slate initiative aimed at busting the drug mafia targeting students.

A resident of Thammanam, Ronnie, was arrested near Paiko Junction, Thammanam, on Wednesday night around 8.30 pm. The excise sleuths seized 2.65 grams of MDMA and 40 grams of ganja from him.

Ronnie, who works as the manager of a sports shop in a mall in Edappally, used to peddle synthetic drugs to his customers at night, an excise officer said. He used to source the banned substance from Bengaluru and take orders over phone. He used to sell drugs in areas including Thammanam, Kathrikadav and Palarivattom, the officer said.

4 Odisha men arrested with 22 kg ganja
In another incident, four men from Odisha were arrested as the Kochi city police intercepted a drug supply gang on Thursday. The police seized 22.064 kg of ganja from the gang.

The youth who landed in the police net are Midhun Pani (35) of Chandrapur, Ashok Kumar Beera (36) Gerengaguda, Chandrapur; Chintamani B Singh, (33), Maradipanka, Kandamal; and Kaneraj Bibar (35), Harijanasahi, Chandrapur.

The District Anti-Narcotic Special Action Force (DANSAF), led by Narcotic Cell Assistant Commissioner K A Abdul Salam, and a team from Eloor Police Station waylaid the gang near Eloor-Container Road. The youth were carrying the illegal substance in an auto-rickshaw to be distributed among the migrant labourers, the police said. They had brought the ganja from Odisha by train.

The police said the investigation was on into the source of the substance.