ANC sleuths on a high with big drug hauls, arrests

PANAJI rrWhopping Rs 64.5 lakh worth of drugs have been seized so far this year. rANC has booked 14 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act between January and June this year as against the eight cases booked during the same period in 2016. rA total of 16 accused have been arrested in these 14 narco cases over the last six months. Interestingly, 10 of these 16 accused are Indian nationals. Of the six others, four are Nigerians in addition to a South Korean and a British. rThe type and quantity of drugs hauled in the first six months of 2017 has also quadrupled in comparison with the amounts attached in 2016. rIn the first half of 2016, 648.31 gms of drugs including ganja, charas, MDMA, cocaine and LSD were seized. The haul recorded from January to June this year measures 2.966 gms, almost four times and has spanned out to include large quantities of powerful synthetic drugs such as DMT (dimethyltryptamine), ecstasy and methamphetamine. The other drugs seized this year include LSD, LSD liquid, cocaine, MDMA, charas and ganja. rThe largest narcotic raids this year were conducted by the ANC on March 21 and 22 wherein the police seized varying quantities of methamphetamine​,​ LSD​ and ​​MDMA ​​(ecstasy) total worth Rs 11.26 lakh in the international market. rIn one of these raids, a native of Chennai​ was​ ​arrested at Anjuna ​for being in ​illegal ​possession of ​75 ​gms ​​of suspected methamphetamine​ and ​suspected ​LSD weighing 40 gms​, the British ​n​ational David Johnson ​was booked for​ being in ​illegal ​possession of 17 grams of ​​suspected MDMA ​​ ​(commonly known as ecstacy) ​ ​and 32 ecstasy tablets weighing 13 grams approximately worth Rs 5​.​86​ lakh.​ rIn the other raid conducted at Arambol, a 33 year-old native of Himachal Pradesh​ was caught​ for being in illegal possession of 1.350 kgs of ​potent Himachal charas approximately ​worth​ RS 5​.4​​​​0​ lakh.