Alappuzha grapples with thriving drug-trafficking

ALAPPUZHA: Despite operation ‘Safe Campus, Clean Campus’ launched to keep drug peddlers away from schools and shops, the  drug trade  thrives in the district.

A  man arrested with three kg of ganja on Tuesday   is one of the kingpins in the  racket which sells ganja to the students and tourists, according to the police.

Alappuzha district has been in the grip of  drug trade for a  long time despite many initiatives, including ‘Clean Campus, Safe Campus' and Operation Suraksha.

As per the data available with the district crime records bureau, the number of cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) has jumped from 23 in 2008 to 331 in 2014.  In the last three months itself,  126 cases were registered.

According to Mr Mohanan, DySP, Narcotic Cell, the special teams conduct raids on  suspected places as part of Operation Suraksha, the State-wide effort to tackle crime. “The people can inform us through the number ‘1090’ at any time,”  he said.

Dr Nisha, district coordinator of Vimukti,  the district administration's mission started on May 31, 2000 to make the district  tobacco and drugs-free, at least 785 students had been discouraged from using drugs through counselling for the last five years.

A study done by National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre and the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in February last year had revealed that 74 percent   children in the age group 5-18 in the state use tobacco.