Kochi: Twelve people were arrested by the Kochi police in drug cases as the cops carried out a series of raids in hotels across the city on Thursday night. They raided 152 hotel rooms as part of its special drive called ‘Operation OYO Rooms’.

Different amounts of ganja and MDMA and two vehicles were seized from the arrested. These include 0.5 kg of ganja seized from a lodge at Panangad. As much as 2.5 kg of ganja was seized from a car at Kalamassery. The Central Police seized a bike that did not have a number plate.

As much as 0.2 gm of MDMA was seized from a person at Kannamali. The police said all the arrested people belong to Kochi.

The raids were conducted by cops from different police stations in the city, led by Kochi DCP S Sasidharan. The police initiated the drive following a tip-off that OYO rooms, booked online, were being used rampantly for drug deals. “People check into these rooms for just one or two hours for facilitating drug deals. Those who hire rooms for such activities don’t usually spend a whole day there. We conducted the raids based on information that hotel rooms were being widely used for drug deals,” the DCP said.

The police will be carrying out follow-up raids and other operations.

Operation OYO came close on the heels of the Kochi police nabbing 51 people who had absconded. They were arrested from different parts of the city in raids conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday.