Heroin is new villain in dist, cops act tough in rural areas

Kochi: After MDMA and ganja, heroin abuse is rampant in the district. Police, which seized more than 400 vials in Rural Ernakulam alone so far this year, said migrant labourers abuse the drug the most. Syringes too are being used, posing a risk of the spread of other diseases as well.A senior officer with the Rural police said most heroin seizures were from Perumbavoor and added a region-specific campaign has been launched to make it drugs-free.“Heroin is used primarily by migrant labourers, but Malayalis too are in the business chain because it is lucrative. Nearly 80% of the users in Perumbavoor town area are migrant labourers. There are Malayali users too, but they are fewer,” said a senior officer.The officer said they have found evidence indicating that heroin is being injected as well. “It is smoked by some and injected into the bloodstream by others using a syringe. At some places, we have found repeatedly used syringes. It is a big health hazard. Our campaign ‘Operation Clean Perumbavoor’ is targeting all anti-social activities, and priority is given to tackle drug menace,” said the officer.Kolencherry MOSC Medical College Hospital rehabilitation centre for addicts project director and senior counsellor Francis Moothedan said being an opioid drug, heroin is very addictive and the variety available here could be highly adulterated.“It is a semi-synthetic drug and the kind available here could be impure since the pure form is very costly. These impurities cause a risk on their own. Once addicted to this drug, it becomes very difficult to deal with it since it would cause severe withdrawal symptoms including pain as heroin itself is sort of a painkiller,” said Moothedan.He said people abuse heroin in a variety of ways, but syringes are the most dangerous type. “Some people abuse it by inhalation, some snort it while others smoke cigarettes after dipping in it. Injection used to be rare here before. Some may mix it with liquid like lime juice to inject intravenously. Health hazard is very high in this method as it can also spread diseases like hepatitis and HIV,” said Moothedan.Police officials said that those who abuse heroin are in the 18-50 age group. “Some labourers who usually don’t use drugs end up using them when someone who lives with them in labour camps starts abusing them. People who indulge in using these drugs can also commit other crimes which is why we are going ahead with this campaign to curb the sale of the drug to the maximum extent,” said the officer.Apart from the Perumbavoor specific campaign launched under ASP Mohit Rawat, a wider operation, Clean Ernakulam launched by Rural SP Vaibhav Saxena is also in full swing with 300gm of MDMA and nearly 80kg of ganja seized so far in the district in the last six months. Rural police have also registered 750 cases relating to narcotic peddling and consumption this year under the campaign.