Crackdown on drug peddlers

KOCHI: Continuing with the crackdown on drug peddlers in the city, the city police on Friday arrested a person and seized over 500 ampoules from him.The arrested was identified as Binu Mathew, 33, of Kollam Parambil in Kasargod district.The peddler was arrested by the Shadow Police team in coordination with the north police as per the direction of Deputy Police Commissioner P A Valsan and Special Branch Assistant Commissioner M Shamsu Illikkal. According to the police, the accused used to smuggle in ampoules from the neighbouring states and sell them to the customers at exorbitant rates. The seized drugs are worth Rs 1.5 lakh in the black market. The person was arrested from Ernakulam Junction Railway Station.Meanwhile, in yet another operation, the Shadow Police arrested a person who used to sell ganja to school and college students. He has been identified as Prasad of Elamakara. The police said that there had been reports on ganja traffickers carrying out their sales operations targeting schools and colleges.The accused was taken into custody after the Shadow Police personnel did a surveillance on the educational institutions in the city.