Kozhikode: In a major breakthrough, a youth closely associated with the international illicit drugs mafia was arrested by a joint team of the various agencies of the Kerala Police. Narcotic substances worth crores of rupees were seized from the arrested accused Shakeel Harhad, 34, hailing from Chakkum Kadavu area of Kozhikode in Kerala.

It is estimated that the racket led by him used to do a brisk business of illicit drugs worth around Rs 1.5 lakh on a daily basis. The racket was said to be the regular supplier to school and college students in Malappuram and Kozhikode districts.

The seizure of illicit drugs from the youth on Thursday morning was the biggest crackdown on the illicit drugs mafia in the history of Kozhikode district, stated Kozhikode District Superintendent of Police A Akbar.

It was during the vehicle-checking by the police on Wednesday night that Shakeel Harshad was nabbed with stuff worth crores of rupees.

It was a joint operation by the District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force (DANSAF), City Crime Squad and the Kasaba Police.

As many as 212 gm of MDMA and LSD stamps among other narcotic substances were seized from his vehicle and later during the raid conducted at his hideout.

It was detected by the law-enforcing agencies that a network connected through an international phone call system was used for supplying illicit drugs to customers.

At first, a team led by Police Sub Inspector K Abhishek arrested Harshad and seized from him MDMA, having a quantity of 112 gm.

Later, when Shakeel was interrogated, the police stumbled upon the fact that the supply of dreaded drugs was going on unabated in Malappuram district with Kakkanchery being the main hub of supply.

The police, which raided the secret place of Shakeel, were dumb-struck as his hideout was almost like a "supermarket" of illicit drugs. The police seized 100 gm of MDMA, 10 gm of hashish oil, 170 ecstasy tablets and 345 LSD stamps from there.

The police also busted 31 tubes used for consuming drugs. The police also unearthed money worth Rs 33,000 which was considered to be proceeds from the illicit sale of drugs.

The seized 212 gm MDMA alone has a value of Rs 742,000 in the market. The police are estimating the value of other seized substances, including that of LSD stamps.

A team led by Kasaba Police Station Inspector N Prajeesh is investigating the case under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police A Srinivas.

The other members of the team are DANSAF Assistant Sub Inspector Manoj Edayedathu, Senior CPO K Akhilesh, CPOs Jinesh Chuloor, Arjun Ajith, Kaarayil Sunoj, City Crime Squad members M Shalu, A Prasanth Kumar, C K Sujith, Kasaba Sub Inspector K Rajeev, Senior CPOs P M Rathish, K Shareenabi, CPOs K Bineesh, Muhammed Zacharia, Deepa and Susheela.

New trend
The police have detected during the operations that scooters are being increasingly used these days for selling the narcotic substances among students.

Harshad was given the task of selling drugs on a scooter from Karipur to Koyilandy. The police have estimated that illicit drug business to the tune of R 1.5 lakh was done on a daily basis in the area.

The sale was controlled by the "boss" sitting in the Gulf. In the Kozhikode area, three persons unknown to each were used for supplying stuff to a single person.

Modus operandi
The modus operandi of the gang is that those who want to have narcotic substances will contact the agent at the local level.

The agent will hand over the phone number of the Gulf "boss" to the client. The client then will have to send the location map of the place where he stands, a selfie having his vehicle on the backdrop and the details of the amount to be spent, to the "boss" through WhatsApp.

Within minutes, the "number 2" in the network will cross check whether the details given by the client are true or not. Then if the details are genuine, he will give a final confirmation to the "boss". Then, the boss will call up the supplier and ask him to hand over the substance.

The supplier will come to the place where the client is waiting on a scooter, will hand over the substance and will take money from the client. The three persons, who are involved in the network, never come to know that they are doing the same job.

They used to run the racket by mainly focusing on students in order to ensure that the police did not get any clue about their clandestine operations.

In the last six months, the police led by DANSAF seized 47 kg of ganja, half kilo of MDMA and 50 gm of brown sugar.