Wayanad: The excise team on Thursday arrested a 22-year-old man for allegedly smuggling 312.5 grams of methamphetamine. The accused, Puthanveettil Muhammed Jusime, is a native of Thachampoyil near Thamarassery in Kozhikode.

Jusime is suspected to be the kingpin of a drug smuggling network supplying narcotics to Kozhikode from other states. He was apprehended from a Kozhikode-bound private tourist bus at Muthanga.

According to Excise officials, Jusime is a key operative of a drug cartel supplying narcotics across the Malabar region, with Kozhikode being used as a transit hub. The seized contraband is estimated to have a market value of ₹10 lakh.

Excise officials said they are also probing the role of a taxi driver, reportedly associated with a popular online cab service. The arrest was part of a special drive titled ‘Operation Hotspot 2.0’, launched in connection with the election-time anti-narcotics crackdown at major interstate border checkposts.

The joint operation was carried out by two teams, the Wayanad Excise Intelligence Wing and the Wayanad Excise Enforcement and Anti-Narcotics Special Squad, at Ponkuzhy, just before the Muthanga checkpost and shortly after the Karnataka Forest Department checkpost.

The operation was led by Excise Special Squad Circle Inspector Shabu C Other officials involved included Excise Intelligence Inspector Rajesh Komath, Assistant Excise Inspector Haridas C V, Preventive Officers Krishnankutti P, Vinod P R, Aneesh A S, Vijith K G, and Civil Excise Officer Vishnu K K. Jusime was produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court and has been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.