THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A couple and their friends were arrested in Thiruvananthapuram for smuggling hybrid cannabis in a car. The couple even had their children in the car and were ferrying the banned substances on the pretext of a holiday trip.

Shyam (35), his wife Reshmi (31), a tenant in Vattiyoorkavu IAS Colony; Muhammad Noufal (24), a resident of Noufal Manzil in Kurishadi, Kaduvakuzhi, Aryanad, and Sanjay (26), a resident of Rajaji Nagar, were arrested.

The City DANSAF police recovered half a kilo of MDMA and nine grams of hybrid cannabis from them. The police also took the car in which they were travelling into custody. They were arrested during a search conducted at the Kovalam junction on the Kazhakoottam-Karode bypass. The DANSAF team was in mufti after getting a tip-off about the deal. The gang smuggled drugs in a car that was pawned three months ago from Chathannur, Kollam. Shyam and Reshmi had reached Kavalur in Tamil Nadu from Bengaluru with the drugs and asked their friends to come and pick them up in the car. The gang then reached Kanyakumari and then to Kovalam via the coastal road.