Law enforcement agencies in the district had a busy day on Thursday as the excise and the police arrested six alleged drug peddlers in separate incidents.
The excise arrested a 28-year-old man with 252.48 grams of suspected MDMA in one of the first major drug seizures by the agency in the district this year. Adarsh Sidharthan of Karumadi, Ambalapuzha, was arrested from a lodge near the Ernakulam North railway station around 7.45 a.m. Officials also seized 1.8 kg of suspected ganja from him.
In another incident, the excise nabbed Muhammed Yaseen, 25, from near the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, Kaloor, for allegedly possessing suspected narcotic items including 5.32 grams of MDMA, 0.008 grams of LSD stamps, and 3 grams of ganja. The arrests were made by excise teams led by Inspector Abhiraj. R.
Meanwhile, the Kochi City police arrested two youths — Joseph Antony, 24, of SRM Road, Kochi, and Ibrahim Badusha, 24, of Pazhayangadi, Kannur — with 19.97 grams of suspected MDMA. They were nabbed from near Seaport-Airport Road at Kalamassery. The duo were allegedly selling the substance they had procured from Bengaluru, the police said.
The Kalady police and a special squad of the Ernakulam Rural police arrested two men from Murshidabad in West Bengal with 4.25 kg of suspected ganja. Arjad Hussain, 22, and Ajajul Mandal, 42, were arrested from Thiruvairanikulam, the police said.
In another incident, excise officials from the Angamaly range office seized 7.03 kg of suspected ganja found abandoned at Mangattukara in Angamaly along the railway tracks. The substance was found in a bag by local residents who in turn alerted excise officials. Officials suspect that the contraband was thrown off a moving train by traffickers after coming across police engaged in inspection.
Published – January 24, 2026 12:00 am IST
