KOCHI: In a clear indication of the city becoming a hotspot for drug addicts, a group of youths, suspected to be under the influence of drugs, terrorised a busy thoroughfare near the High Court in broad daylight on Wednesday by brandishing a knife and verbally abusing people.
People ran for cover when the youths, numbering around six, began shouting and abused onlookers.
Though a police team from the Central police station reached the spot, the youths badmouthed them and even threatened to stab them. Soon, more police personnel were called in to the spot and three youths were taken into custody.
“The incident occurred around 1pm on the walkway near the High Court. It is suspected the youths were under the influence of some drugs. We picked up three persons from the spot,” said Central CI S Vijayashankar.
The police took the youths into custody for detailed medical check-up and are verifying their background to check for any links with criminal gangs and drug mafia.“We are verifying the details of the youths. Their arrest will be recorded and they will be produced before the court on Thursday,” said an officer.
Senior police officers in the city have called a meeting of inspectors of city police stations to put in place a robust policing mechanism to check the activities of drug addicts and criminal gangs in the city.
“We can’t take the incident lightly as many young girls and women spend leisure time at the walkway. More police patrolling teams will be deployed on busy roads and other spots in the city,” said an officer.
LSD, ganja easily availableAccording to the police officers, there are organised gangs in the city who supply drugs to vulnerable youth. While it was ganja that was easily available in the city until a couple of years ago, local drug cartels now supply even LSD.
The officers said at least 10 cases of LSD are registered every month. Last year, the Excise and city police recovered over 120 LSD stamps.“LSD is what the youths prefer as its presence in the body is hard to detect and its effect lasts for more than 24 hours. LSD variants are mostly manufactured in secret laboratories in Goa and Bengaluru,” said an officer.Previous seizuresIn June 2019, the shadow squad of the city police arrested two youths with 60 LSD stamps. The data with police reveal that drug seizure cases have doubled in the past four years.
Till August last year, an average of 56 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act were registered by the city police alone every month.