KOCHI: The excise busted a drug peddling gang named ‘Night Droppers’ gang in Kochi. A night dropper is a gang that uses advanced technology to sell drugs to avoid being caught. Their method was to avoid face-to-face dealings, go out only at night, and 'drop' drugs at specific locations and then give information to clients.

The excise had the other day secretly followed their vehicle, which only leaves at midnight. When they found a suitable spot at Ponnurunni Service Road in Vyttila and started dropping the drugs, they were surrounded by the excise team. With this, the accused who tried to flee were taken into custody by force.

The excise arrested Ashiq Anwar (24), Shahid (27) and Ajmal (23) of Kodungallur Kothaparambu. Deadly drugs LSD stamps, 0.285 grams of MDMA and 50 grams of ganja were recovered from their possession. A luxury car, three smart phones and Rs 3000 were taken into custody.

Most of their transactions were through social media. If asked drugs through chat apps, they will ask to send money to your account. Once the money is received, the drugs are packed in a waterproof manner and hidden safely in places where most people don't notice. After that, a number with a special type of code is sent to the person's WhatsApp with the location of the packet and the photo. Then will receive a message drop completed. As per the location, the person in need used to reach this place and take the drugs and leave. They were put under surveillance by the excise intelligence on information from some of the recently arrested youths.

IB Inspector S Manoj Kumar, Ernakulam Range Inspector Girish Kumar, City Metro Shadow Preventive Officer Grade N D Tommy, N M Mahesh, CEOs Padma Gireeshan P and Biju D J took them into custody. The accused who were produced in the court have been remanded.