Drug peddlers adopt innovative methods to conceal contraband as surveillance tightens in Kochi

With the enforcement agencies intensifying surveillance against drug trafficking, peddlers are resorting to innovative methods to conceal and transport narcotic substances, going by recent seizures in and around Kochi.

From banana to jaggery and air coolers, traffickers are now concealing drug consignments in everyday commodities, posing fresh challenges to the police and other enforcement agencies.

In the latest seizure revealing the “innovative modus operandi”, the Ernakulam Rural police arrested an award-winning 31-year-old farmer suspected to be running a drug network under the cover of his agriculture ventures. Videos of the accused showing methods to conceal drugs inside banana bunches were allegedly recovered from his mobile phone. The banana were transported to Keralam under the guise of carrying agricultural produce.

Last week, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) seized 37.7 kg of suspected ganja during an inspection of a train after it arrived at Aluva station. The contraband was found concealed inside unattended sacks beneath layers of jaggery.

In September, the Kochi City District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force recovered 1.980 kg of suspected MDMA hidden inside an air cooler and a tower fan in a car.

The peddlers have turned to such unconventional methods to avoid suspicion during routine checks, the police believe.

“Once we identify a modus operandi, the traffickers change it. Concealing the contraband amid other loads has emerged to be the new trend as is evident from the recent cases. We have to search every nook and cranny of a vehicle if we suspect something,” Binukumar C., DySP, anti-narcotic wing, Ernakulam Rural, said.

“As peddlers change their modus operandi, the police also try new methods to counter them. We are becoming more alert,” he said.

The RPF has, meanwhile, observed traffickers increasingly using carriers by offering huge sums of money. “Often the carriers are not aware of either the source or the buyer. Recently, a college student was arrested with around 1 kg of MDMA in one such case. Cases of peddlers concealing the consignment in railway’s beds using the bedroll staff have also been detected,” said Binoy Antony, Inspector, RPF, Ernakulam South.