Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: As many as 73 drug peddlers have been arrested by the Goa Police in the last four months. Also 60 cases have been filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
As per information available with Goemkarponn, 67kg of drugs of various kinds were seized during the raids carried out between January and April. Most of the raids conducted and drug seizures were from coastal areas.
“We have been tracking the cases and are fully trying to nab the main drug peddlers. Most of the times there is involvement of foreign nationals and people from other states in India,” police sources told Goemkarponn
As per official records, 168 cases in 2017, 222 cases in 2018, 219 cases in 2019, 148 cases in 2020 , 121 cases in 2021, and 154 cases in 2022 have been registered under the NDPS Act.
The coastal state, Goa known for Sun-Sand-Sea, has emerged as a haven for narcotics trade, which is flourishing and resulting in deaths of visitors.
With the recent death case of BJP leader Sonali Phogat, who was allegedly forced to drink water mixed with ‘Methamphetamine’ has suggested that drugs are very easily available in the state.
Though the government claims adoption of a zero tolerance policy against drug trafficking and surprise checks in bars, restaurants and shacks along the drug-prone belt, drug related deaths and such incidents continue to happen in the coastal state.
It is generally believed that drugs came to Goa with the hippies six decades ago, however since then Goa continues to be haven for narcotics. Many beaches of Goa were thronged by the hippies before and now domestic tourists too visit Goa and fall prey to drug peddlers.
