Drug menace: Vigilantism gives way to surveillance in rural Ernakulam

Kochi:Ernakulam rural police have seized close to one-third of the total quantity of ganja confiscated in 2025 within the first two months of the year.Rural police seized 177kg of ganja in this period, even as the total seizure in 2025 was 603kg. The bulk of the ganja seized in this period was trafficked from states like Odisha and West Bengal, often transported by train and then moved locally via autorickshaws to evade detection. So far, in all the major ganja seizures, the accused were migrants hailing either from West Bengal or Odisha. Twenty-two migrants, who posed as migrant workers, were arrested in connection with these large seizures of ganja.In early Feb, rise in peddling of drugs, including ganja, heroin and MDMA, turned into a law-and-order crisis in rural Ernakulam. Incidents of vigilantism by locals against drug menace led to even innocent migrant workers being attacked. Although the vigilantes were arrested, police admitted existence of a drug problem in the region and a vigilance committee was formed to tackle the menace. The committee included representatives of migrant workers as well as public, led by police officers.Officers said that nearly two weeks after formation of the committee, they made the biggest ganja seizure of the year. A senior officer said that, in this case, input received from public led to seizure of 51kg of ganja from a house in Vazhakulam.Police added that surveillance and intelligence gathering were augmented to collect more details on drug peddling and more officers were given exclusive duty to tackle the menace. Heightened vigilance led to 83kg of ganja being seized in the past two weeks and arrest of 12 accused, said an officer."Apart from one case where we received public input, all the other cases were the result of hard work of Dansaf team, who are conducting intensive surveillance. At the same time, whenever people see something illegal, they should call police and inform," said Perumbavoor assistant superintendent of police Hardik Meena.The intensive action followed incidents in Kandanthara, a region densely populated by migrant workers, where K A Shareef, husband of Vengola panchayat president, and a group of residents assaulted migrant workers, accusing them of selling drugs. Perumbavoor police did not find any evidence against the migrants who were assaulted and, based on CCTV footage, Shareef was arrested and remanded for the attack. The committee was formed in the aftermath of unrest over the same.Police have since permanently stationed a control room vehicle in the region for constant monitoring. Vengola panchayat vice-president V H Mohammed said the situation improved in the region. "Frequent visits of suspicious outsiders to the region have come down. However, locals continue to be on high alert. Police action has also strengthened. Apart from police making seizures, locals too are alerting police about drug use," said Mohammed.Meanwhile, district continues to struggle with the menace of synthetic drugs. Over the past two months, rural police arrested 10 men in possession of MDMA. While those apprehended with bulk quantities of ganja were predominantly migrant workers, suspects in all 10 synthetic drug cases were locals hailing from either Ernakulam or neighbouring districts.