<![CDATA[The Thiruvananthapuram Shadow Police raided a major drug racket in the city on Friday and arrested a 26-year old youth on charges of possession of Methylene dioxy methamphetamine (MDMA), estimated to be worth around Rs.2.5 crore in the international market. The accused has been identified as Muhammed Jabir, hailing from Naganahalli village in Hassan district of Karnataka. This drug, MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, is a psychoactive drug primarily used as a recreational drug. When the city police conducted an anti-drug raid in recent months they seized synthetic drugs like LSD and meth. The District Police Chief Mr. P. Prakash formed a special shadow police team recently led by Control Room Assistant Commissioner Mr. V. Suresh Kumar, in light of reports of large-scale drug use among the youth. The shadow team had gathered information from a small group transporting these substances who had been earlier arrested. They used the information garnered to put under observation the movements of those handling MDMA business over the past few months. The Police claim that the accused had been using a mobile application, which they found difficult to track, to carry out his business. The application enables others in the team to permanently delete the data shared there, if one of them is suspected to be apprehended. The police had recently gained access to the accused through the application, posing as drug users looking for stuff. Once the deal was fixed the police tricked him by making him come with the drugs to the Pettah Railway Station, from where he was nabbed. Mr.Prakash said that the police had received more information about the drug racket from the accused, based on which further investigation will be carried out in the coming days. The Police team that carried out the investigation and apprehended the accused include DCP Mr. R. Adithya, Vanchiyoor SHO Mr. Suresh. V. Nair. Sub Inspector Mr. Suvarnakumar, Crime Sub Inspector Mr. Mithun, Shadow Sub Inspectors Mr. Gopakumar, Mr. Yashodharan and others. The Cantonment police in another drug-related issue on Friday arrested a 47-year-old murder accused with 1.25 kilograms of ganja in his possession. The accused has been identified as Prakash from Rajaji Nagar. According to the police, the accused used to smuggle the ganja in vehicles while transporting vegetables from Tamil Nadu. He used to make it into small packets worth Rs.500/- and sell it to students, auto rickshaw drivers and others. He also has other cases which include attacking a hotel manager, pending against him]]>
