Kannur drug haul, film stars and warship INS Tarkash

Land, sea, and air. Three routes every country takes extra care to curb intrusion from enemy countries. One-third of our country is surrounded by the ocean, making it the most favourable route to trade drugs. Strict screening at airports impedes attempts to smuggle large quantities of drugs. Meanwhile, the majority of drugs enter Kerala via land and sea.

The Navy seized 2,507 kilograms of drugs in a lightning operation in the Indian Ocean the other day. The names of the suspects in custody have not been released. The arrested are just lackeys of kingpins, managing affairs from foreign countries. The security forces need to unravel and find the brain behind the smuggling attempt. Limiting the investigation to lackeys will effectively sabotage the investigation.

At the end of the day, evidence does the talking. In a dreary trend seen in such cases, culprits end up scot-free for the lack of evidence for their crime. There will be ample news coverage if such cases involve the names of prominent actors. However, under lack of evidence and lax from officials, the real culprits will wriggle out of the case and will soon get back to their old shenanigans with impunity.

The Navy seized 2386 kilograms of hashish and 121 kilograms of heroin from the sea; a kilogram of heroin costs Rs 5 crore in the drug market. A kilogram of hashish costs between Rs 10 lakh and 15 lakh. The Navy's P8I surveillance aircraft and the Maritime Operations Center in Mumbai participated in the operation, led by the warship INS Tarkash. Marine commandos went to the suspicious boat in a dinghy and conducted an inspection. The boat crew has been handed over to the Narcotics Control Bureau.

In another such incident on Wednesday, the state police made their biggest drug haul in Kannur. Taslima Sultana (Christina) and her assistant and driver, Alappuzha native K. Firoz, were arrested with three kilograms of hybrid cannabis worth over Rs. 2 crores. The woman confirmed having deals with three film stars. The investigation team should not try to cast suspicion on anyone without sufficient evidence. These massive drug busts also point to the need for the central and state governments to start thinking about developing a system to jointly combat drug abuse on land, at sea, and in the air.