MDMA seized from Wayanad homestay; five, including proprietor and investor, arrested
Police arrested five people, including a homestay 'proprietor' and 'investor', seizing 104 grams of MDMA during a raid in Ambalavayal. The suspects were remanded in judicial custody for fourteen days.
Police arrested five people, including a homestay 'proprietor' and 'investor', seizing 104 grams of MDMA during a raid in Ambalavayal. The suspects were remanded in judicial custody for fourteen days.
Police arrested five people, including a homestay 'proprietor' and 'investor', seizing 104 grams of MDMA during a raid in Ambalavayal. The suspects were remanded in judicial custody for fourteen days.
Kalpetta: Police arrested five persons, including the proprietor and investor of a homestay, and seized 104.22 grams of MDMA during a raid at a homestay near the Edakkal Caves at Ambalavayal, on Saturday night.
According to a police communique, the arrested persons were Akbar, 50, Vadakkenchery, Palakkad; Muhammed Rishad, 33, Kambalakkad; Mumthaz, 20, Varambatta, Padinjarathara; the alleged kingpin, Muhammed Shfeeq, 34, Kambalakkad; and his friend Vivek Sivadasan, 34, Paralikkunnu, Madakkimala.
Police identified Muhammed Shfeeq as the proprietor of the homestay and Vivek Sivadasan as the investor in the project.
Addressing the media after the raid, Narcotics and Gender Justice Deputy Superintendent of Police T Manoharan said the operation was conducted by a joint team of the District Anti-Narcotics Squad (DANSAF) and the Ambalavayal police, following a tip-off received by District Police Chief S Devamanohar.
The homestay was allegedly being used as a distribution centre for MDMA across Wayanad, operating under the guise of tourism activities, police said.
Ambalavayal Sub-Inspector Jesvin Joy led the operation and arrested all five accused. The MDMA was concealed in two packets inside a table drawer. Police also seized 74 zip-lock covers suspected to have been intended for packing and selling the drug in retail quantities. The recovery of the covers indicated that the premises may have been used as a base for retail distribution of the narcotic substance, police said.
A case has been registered against the accused under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Ambalavayal Circle Inspector Biju Antony has taken over the investigation.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Sulthan Bathery, and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. The woman accused was lodged at the Sub Jail in Mananthavady, while the four male accused were sent to the District Jail at Vythiri.
Police suspect that more persons are involved in the alleged retail drug distribution network and said that efforts are underway to identify other members of the racket and trace the source and intended distribution channels of the seized MDMA.