in the biggest-ever drug bust in the district, rural police and the district anti-narcotic special action force (Dansaf) arrested four men with 1.265 kg of MDMA, valued at Rs 6 crore, along with 17 litres of foreign liquor, at Navayikulam on Wednesday night.
The narcotics were smuggled from Muscat, Oman, concealed in a pick-up van headed for Varkala. To evade detection, the accused hid the drug in one of several baskets filled with dates. The vehicle carried over 10 baskets, and police took eight hours of meticulous searching to find a black pouch containing the MDMA.
The arrested have been identified as Sanju (41), alias Saiju of Kallambalam; Nandu (32) of Njekkad; Unnikrishnan (39) of Vadasserikonam; and Prameen (35) of Valiyavila.
Sanju, the key accused, is a known repeat offender with multiple NDPS cases and previously ran his drug operations under the cover of a dog-breeding business. In a raid last year, he reportedly set dogs on the police. He is infamous for a lavish lifestyle allegedly funded by drug trafficking.
Following a tip-off, police tracked Sanju and Nandu who had arrived from Oman with their families, traveling in a car. Meanwhile, the pick-up van carrying the contraband, driven by Unnikrishnan and accompanied by Prameen, took a separate route. When police attempted to stop both vehicles at Kallambalam, only the car stopped. The van attempted to flee but was chased down and intercepted at Parakunnu near Navayikulam, leading to the arrests and recovery of the drugs.
