The Kollam anti-narcotics squad has arrested two youngsters for the illegal possession and sales of medicines belonging to the category of psychotropic drugs, normally used for treating mental disorders.
Ananthu, a 29-year-old Uliyakovil resident, and Alex, a 26-year-old Mundakkal resident, have been arrested with 2,000 tablets and according to officials, they have been peddling prescription drugs with the help of a gang of youngsters.
They said a wide racket under the accused was operating in and around Mundakkal and nearly 20 youngsters were part of it. Their method was to source 8,000 to 10,000 tablets monthly by courier from Mumbai and sell it using the gang members. School and college students were their main customers and each tablet was sold for ₹200.
Ananthu used to provide mobile phones and vehicle to the peddlers who collected the money and handed it over to him every day. The accused were nabbed by the Excise team when they were at a private courier company to claim the courier from Mumbai.
“Overcoming the addiction of psychotropic drugs is very difficult. They usually inject it after grinding the pills and mixing it with water. Hundreds of youngsters from different parts of the district had been buying these pills from them. Since the peddlers were aware of the serious side-effects of the drug, none of them were using it,” said the officials.
Deputy Excise Commissioner B. Suresh said that all members of the racket would be soon identified with the help of the cyber cell. The Drugs Controller would also take strict action against the accused under Drugs and Cosmetics Act since the pills were specified under Schedule H1.
