As Kerala steps up war on MDMA, raids, arrests and a bizarre death

Following the disclosure that the packets contained MDMA, police took him to a local government hospital, from where he was rushed to a government medical college in Kozhikode. An endoscopy showed the packets with granules, substantiating his claim. However, his condition deteriorated on Friday night, and he died on Saturday. Shanid had allegedly been involved in drug cases in the past, said police.

“Only the postmortem will give a clear picture of what was in the packets,” said the Thamarassery police.

In Thrissur, police arrested three youths, including two brothers, who were allegedly supplying synthetic drugs from a rented house under Nedupuzha police limits. The brothers were identified as Thekkilakkadan Arun, 25 and Alan, 19. They had allegedly been dealing in drugs after their father died and their mother went abroad. Police also seized several gadgets and a jewelry weighing machine from the rented house, along with 4 kg of ganja and 70 grams of psychotropic drugs.

Meanwhile, a civil excise officer was seriously injured when a bike-borne drug carrier hit him during vehicle inspection at a Kerala-Karnataka border checkpost in Wayanad. The incident took place at Bavali checkpost late Friday night. Civil officer Jaimon was knocked down by the bike when the excise team was inspecting vehicles, officials said. The rider was later identified as Hyder from Wayanad, who police say has a history of ferrying drugs from Bengaluru to Kerala. He was later arrested.

In a similar drive in Kannur, a youth and his girlfriend were arrested by the police in a raid at a lodge in the city. Police said they had recovered 4 grams of MDMA and nine grams of ganja from them.

The crackdown

The state has launched a special drive in the wake of a spurt in crimes related to drug abuse. Data presented in the Assembly last week shows an alarming rise in the number of cases related to synthetic drugs.

During the previous regime from 2016 to 2021, the number of cases registered under the NDPS Act was 37,340. The number of those accused in such cases was 41,567, and the number of those arrested was 41,378. During the present regime from May 2021 to December 31, 2024, Kerala had 87,702 cases, in which 94,886 were listed as accused, and 93,599 persons were arrested.

In a special drive held between February 22 and March 1, police examined the premises of 17,246 persons, during which 2,854 were arrested. Seizures included 1.312 kg of MDMA and 153 kg of ganja.

Although cases are up, the government is of the view that the state has one of the best conviction rates in the country. The conviction rate in Kerala in NDPS Act cases is 98.19 per cent, above the national average of 78.1 per cent, the Chief Minister said, quoting data presented in the Rajya Sabha in 2022.