Seizes drugs worth `13.20 lakh
ASHWINI KAMAT
PANAJI
This is the largest quantity of this particular substance seized from a single source since 2013.
The ANC team led by Police Inspector Suraj Halankar conducted the raid between 1 am and 5 am on Sunday at the bus shed, near St Michael Church cemetery, Kumarwado in Anjuna and nabbed Ozoemena, who was in possession of 24.118 gms of liquid LSD, 9.084 gms of DMT and 72.961 gms of suspected cocaine. The approximate worth of the seized substances is Rs 13. 20 lakh in the international market. The accused has been placed under arrest.
Over 2013 and 2014, quantity of liquid LSD seized from each accused has steadily gone up from an average stash of 1.8 gm in 2013 to 4.6 gm in 2015.
On January 16, 2015, ANC had seized 10.30 gm of liquid LSD from an Israeli national in Chapora, which was then the biggest seizure of the drug since 2013.
Sources from the police department disclosed that the latest raid is expected to lead the investigating team to several other sources as well as consumers of the drugs. Based on the quantities of drugs seized from his possession, police believe that the accused Ozoemena is one of the bigger peddlers operating along the northern coastline.
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 lays down that as little as 0.01 gms, which is an equivalent of four to five drops of liquid LSD, amounts to commercial quantity of the drug. Those convicted under the Section 22 (c) of the NDPS Act are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than 10 years.
In addition to this, the available figures show that the conviction rate of persons caught with liquid LSD is higher than in the cases involving other drugs. Between 2013 and 2016, three out of 15 persons booked in 14 separate cases involving liquid LSD seizures have been convicted. The remaining cases are pending before
the court.
