Kochi: In a major drug bust by Kochi city police, two people were arrested on Friday after police seized nearly 2kg of MDMA worth more than Rs 1 crore.
The arrested were T A Shafeer, 33, and Naufal, 36, both residents of Mattancherry. As much as 1.99kg of MDMA was seized in the operation. As much as 13.9g of MDMA that was concealed on his person, was seized from Naufal. The contraband sourced for up to Rs 900 per gram was sold in smaller quantities at several times the rate.
Police said the accused were part of a racket which smuggles MDMA from Delhi to Kochi. Police said there are more people involved in the racket in Delhi as well as in Kochi. An investigation is on to trace the remaining consignment, a source said. Police said Naufal had multiple cases against him including NDPS and theft cases.
The accused were part of a racket smuggling MDMA concealed in household appliances. Police received information about Naufal, an online taxi driver, from Shafeer. Subsequently, Naufal’s house was searched. Based on information obtained from him during questioning, police checked his car which was parked in Karuvelipady. The rest of the contraband was found in the car stashed inside appliances. The accused used to dismantle new electrical appliances, pack the drugs in empty cavities before refitting them and send them as private courier consignments through trains. Police recovered three air coolers and a cooling cabinet-cum-water filter from the accused, which were allegedly used to conceal the drugs. A detailed probe into the financiers of the racket is on. Police suspect that apart from three packets recovered from the car, at least two more were smuggled in as a batch. The accused were produced before court and remanded in judicial custody. Police had initiated preventive action against him under Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (Kaapa) but the proceedings were yet to be completed.
Shafeer was detained by the district anti-narcotic special action force (Dansaf) in Palarivattom around 9pm on Thursday with a small quantity of MDMA, according to the police.