Thiruvananthapuram: Around 244 people were nabbed as part of 'Operation D-Hunt', an initiative implemented by Kerala police in a bid to flush out individuals and gangs involved in smuggling and peddling banned narcotic substances, in a day-long statewide raid on Saturday.
The arrests were made in 246 cases registered under the NDPS Act (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985).
Besides MDMA, which is a deadly drug that costs lakhs (of rupees) in the international market, police also seized huge amounts of contraband like ganja, hashish oil and brown sugar (heroin) during the raid.
The maximum number of arrests were made from Kochi (61), followed by Alappuzha (45) and Idukki (32).
Around 1,373 people suspected of selling drugs were investigated.
Prior to the operation, a data bank -- of persons who regularly sell drugs and their associates who went to jail in drug cases -- was prepared. They also located the places of their stay, supplies and storage in advance and continuously surveilled them for a month.
The operation was carried out by the newly constituted Range-level NDPC Coordination Cell and District Police Chiefs together on the instructions of State Police Chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb and under the supervision of ADGP (Law and Order) M R Ajithkumar, who also heads the Anti-Narcotics Task Force.
Similar operations would be conducted in the future too, said the police in a statement on Sunday.
