On the substance abuse trail in Kerala

Recent incidents have brought to light the growing trade and abuse of synthetic and psychoactive drugs, including among schoolchildren. M.P. Praveen and Mithosh Joseph report on the various dimensions of the problem and the steps being taken to crack down on drug peddling and to rehabilitate addicts

On a rainy day in July 2019, 19-year-old Arjun went missing from his home in Kumbalam, a picturesque suburb of Kochi. His body was recovered from a nearby swamp eight days later. Inquiries revealed that Arjun had been murdered by a gang of four men in an act of ‘cold-blooded’ revenge for the death of a youngster in an accident for which they believed Arjun was responsible. The youngster killed in the accident was the brother of one of the members of the gang. The accused reportedly consumed drugs before they drugged the victim, too, to numb his defences. Then, they bludgeoned him to death, buried a dead dog close to the body to mask the stench, and hurled his mobile phone into an inter-State truck to give the impression that he was travelling.

In August 2022, the body of a 23-year-old man, with injury marks, was found wrapped in a sheet and shoved into the duct of a 16th floor apartment near Kakkanad, Kochi’s IT hub. The police found that the apartment, taken on rent by bachelors, was a hub for substance abuse and trade. A dispute over a drug-related cash transaction of ₹50,000 allegedly led to the murder.

Between these two murders committed under the influence of drugs, the narcotics scene in Kerala has taken a turn for the worse. Ganja, or cannabis, is no longer the most sought-after dope, say excise officers. It has been replaced by synthetic and psychoactive drugs like MDMA (methylenedioxy-methamphetamine) and LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide). More expensive substances like cocaine have also made their way in from Bengaluru and Goa or from abroad. Worryingly, there are indications that the consumption of drugs has increased. On November 10, 75 gm of MDMA was seized in the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border taluk of Neyyattinkara, from an engineering diploma graduate who was on a bus from Bengaluru. This is just the latest in a string of incidents pointing to the spread of synthetic drugs and the involvement of young people.

“Narcotic substances eliminate all inhibitions and embolden people to commit gruesome crimes. The surge in narcotic use has led to a spike in crimes. We have now prioritised going up the supply chain to the source of narcotics rather than stopping with the peddlers,” says C.H. Nagaraju, Inspector General of Police and District Police Chief, Kochi City.

But this is easier said than done, as drug cartels are reported to have become even more innovative and technology-savvy with their methods. In March this year, the Kerala Excise Department seized 31 LSD stamps in two separate parcels at the Kochi-based International Mail Centre of the postal department from the Netherlands and Qatar. The intended recipients were arrested and raids at their houses led to more seizures. Later, four more such parcels carrying LSD stamps and MDMA, which had been despatched from diverse destinations including the U.S., the Netherlands and Poland, were seized over four months. The orders for these had been placed on the Dark Web and paid for in cryptocurrency. With little technological wherewithal, the enforcement agencies were largely clueless.

The extent of the use of LSD in Kerala came to official attention in 2017 when a Facebook post promised a ‘12-hour non-stop ride with Mother Nature’. It mentioned a date for Facebook group members to meet in the “dark organic forest for a galactic experience with full night music”. The location was a farmhouse on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Undercover officers had infiltrated the group, which was also on WhatsApp. Slowly, the officers won the group’s confidence. They soon learned that the leaders of the Facebook group had the hallucinogenic in the form of stamp-shaped absorbent paper that users could ingest through the sublingual route (placing it on or beneath the tongue). The undercover officers persuaded the suspects to sell them a ‘stamp’. Eventually, the police busted the rave party and arrests followed. The suspects had sourced 100 LSD stamps for ₹600 each from a peddler in Madiwala in Bengaluru. They hoped to sell them at the rave party for ₹1,200 apiece. Investigators say micro doses of LSD are cheaper than branded liquor and offer a more “enduring high”.

“It is impossible to quantify the actual drug dealings happening over the Dark Web. There are even automated bots in applications like Telegram to identify potential clients and link them with human suppliers. Digital currency transactions also take place over a multitude of third-party applications facilitating the creation of private wallets. While transactions over these applications may be monitored, their purpose cannot be established. They don’t have any evidential value,” says Nandakishore Harikumar, a cyber security expert based in Kochi.