Police target emerging drug hotspots in Kozhikode

With sustained enforcement under Operation Toofan disrupting narcotics activity at identified drug hotspots, the Kozhikode City police have stepped up enforcement in suburban areas to detect and prevent the emergence of new centres of drug trafficking.

The police sources said drug peddlers were increasingly attempting to shift their operations from areas under constant watch to less conspicuous locations on the outskirts of the city. To counter the trend, plainclothes officers and shadow police squads have been deployed to gather field intelligence and monitor suspicious movements in vulnerable locations, including rented buildings, homestays, and resorts.

Police officers in charge of the district-level patrol said aerial surveillance would soon supplement ground-level policing in areas where rapid intervention was often hindered by difficult terrain or poor accessibility. Drone-based monitoring is expected to enhance intelligence gathering and improve close surveillance over vulnerable pockets that are otherwise tough to monitor effectively.

The Excise department, which has also strengthened its anti-narcotics campaign under Operation Thunder, had previously identified 47 drug hotspots across Kozhikode district for enhanced surveillance and enforcement. Officers associated with the day and night patrol said several of those locations were situated in upland areas where drone-assisted monitoring could greatly improve the effectiveness of inspections and enforcement.

The local patrol squad members in the department have sought the procurement of drone-mounted cameras, saying the technology would strengthen surveillance in remote areas and aid in detecting hooch brewing units and the sale of narcotics alongside the illicit liquor trade and narcotics-related offences.

“Aerial surveillance will have to be improved in several areas as drug pushers are adopting new strategies to evade the enforcement squads. All the previously identified drug hotspots are now undergoing a change, prompting the police to widen the area of their surveillance,” said a senior police officer with the District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force. He said the list of some of the newly found drug spots has already been handed over to the local police squads for prompt action.

A sub inspector with the Special Branch said the suspicious movement of school and college students during class hours would be put under close monitoring in the wake of parents’ demands to concentrate more on the area. He said arrangements would be made to zero in on students who gather in various meeting points to participate in drug-fuelled celebrations and merriments.

In the past, there were several incidents in Kozhikode city in which substance abusers and drug pushers secured rented facilities and attracted young clients to the premises for rave parties and the distribution of narcotics. Many of the suspects, including medical and engineering students, had been nabbed in connection with such incidents, they pointed out.