Seven arrested in major drug bust; doctor and BDS student among those held

In a major anti-narcotics operation, the Thiruvananthapuram Rural Police arrested seven people, including a doctor and a dental student, with alleged possession of MDMA and hybrid ganja near Kaniyapuram during the wee hours of Thursday.

Those arrested have been identified as Asim, 29, of Mannoorkonam; Avinash, 29, of Ayoor; Ajith, 30, of Tholicode; Vignesh Dathan, 34, a doctor hailing from Attakulangara; Ansiya, 37, of Palode; Haleena, 27, a BDS student from Kottarakkara; and Harish, 29, of Kollam.

The police seized 4 g of MDMA, one g of hybrid ganja and 100 g of ganja from the gang. Two cars, two motorcycles and ten mobile phones were also confiscated. All the accused were subsequently handed over to the Kadinamkulam police for further investigation.

The arrests were made during a joint inspection conducted by the Attingal and Nedumangad District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force (DANSAF) teams. The accused were nabbed from a rented house in Thoppil, near Kaniyapuram.

According to official sources, Asim and Ajith are habitual offenders with multiple previous drug-related cases. The duo had received bail after serving a partial sentence in a MDMA trafficking case. The gang, allegedly led by Asim, was involved in smuggling MDMA and other narcotic substances from Bengaluru and distributing them to students, doctors and IT professionals.

The accused had managed to evade arrest a few days ago after ramming their car into a police jeep when officers attempted to intercept them. Based on intelligence inputs that the group was hiding in the Kaniyapuram area, the DANSAF teams surrounded the house and arrested them during the pre-dawn raid.

Asim, Ajith, and Ansia are suspected to be the main links in the drug trafficking racket. The remaining accused are believed to have arrived to purchase and consume narcotics. Preliminary inquiries revealed that Vignesh, though an MBBS graduate, is not currently practicing as a doctor.

The investigation team suspected that many people were likely to contact Asim and Ajith for drugs with the onset of the New Year, and surveillance had been intensified accordingly. It is also suspected that the accused chose to conduct the transaction in person, anticipating a police crackdown and to avoid detection through UPI or digital payment trails.