Kerala Excise Busts Delhi-Kerala MDMA Racket, Arrests Four Suspects
The Kerala Excise Department has busted a major narcotics network that allegedly smuggled MDMA from Delhi to Kerala using young women as carriers, arresting four people across two connected operations, officials said on Sunday.
Excise officials recovered a total of 279.3 grams of MDMA, three grams of hashish oil, six mobile phones, and Rs 69,500 in cash from the suspects.
S Vinod Kumar, Joint Excise Commissioner, said the Excise Ernakulam Range acted on a tip-off to first arrest two individuals, including an 18-year-old woman, from a luxury hotel in Kaloor. Officers seized 49.3 grams of MDMA during that raid.
Interrogation of the two suspects provided intelligence regarding Varun Dev, identified by officials as a wholesale dealer trafficking MDMA into Kerala from Delhi. Upon receiving information that a delivery was scheduled in Ernakulam district on Saturday, excise teams mounted surveillance in the area.
Officers intercepted a Mahindra Thar SUV at Vyttila after the vehicle was held up in a traffic jam on Saturday. A search of the vehicle led to the discovery of 230 grams of MDMA and three grams of hashish oil concealed inside a custom secret compartment built beneath the steering wheel.
Two men inside the vehicle, identified as Varun Dev and Vipin S Kumar, both residents of Pathanamthitta district, were arrested at the spot. Kumar stated that one of the arrested men had previously been caught by police in connection with drug offenses.
According to investigators, the racket's modus operandi involved driving to Delhi in the Mahindra Thar SUV, using young women as couriers to carry the contraband back to Kerala, and then distributing the drugs through retail channels. Officials noted that the young woman arrested in Kaloor turns 19 in November.
Kumar stated that the syndicate specifically targeted young people to recruit them into drug trafficking operations, adding that many young offenders were unaware of the severe legal consequences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, where commercial quantity offenses carry mandatory prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years.
