Goa: Crime Branch seizes drugs smuggled from Thailand in major crackdown on narcotics
Panaji: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant praised the work of the team conducting the searches and said that the Goa police’s crime division had confiscated drugs that were brought in from Thailand as part of a major crackdown on drugs.
He declared that the police administration will continue to be in the forefront of capturing drugs entering Goa, including the crime branch and anti-narcotics unit.
“We have successfully seized the narcotics that had entered Goa from Thailand thanks to significant operations carried out by our criminal section. I commend the whole staff and my criminal branch. We will always lead the way in drug seizures, whether it’s via the crime branch or our Anti-Narcotics unit,” Sawant told ANI.
According to police, a Ghanaian man was detained by the Goan Ribandar criminal department on Saturday for allegedly possessing more than a “commercial quantity” of 60 MDMA pills, totaling around 26 grams.
Police Inspector Vikas Deykar headed the crime branch squad that nabbed 35-year-old Sebastian Duah late Friday night. Between 8.58 and 11.25 p.m., a six-person squad led by ASI Sriram Salgaonkar, HC Mangesh Deshpande, PC Sushant Pagi, PC Rupesh Gaikwad, and PC Prakash Utkuri carried out a drug bust close to the Rauta Vaddo cemetery in Bardez, Goa.
One clear polythene package reportedly containing 60 rectangular and triangular pills in the colors pink, brown, and orange—suspected to be Ecstasy tablets or MDMA—was discovered in the accused’s possession.
The perpetrator of the crime said, “A psychotropic substance weighing 26.304 grams worth approximately Rs 15,00,000 in the international market is concealed in the dickey of a blue Yamaha Fascino scooter.”
Section 22 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) has been used by the Crime Branch to record the offense.
In the meanwhile, CM Sawant set aside Rs 10 crores for the building of Ambedkar Bhawan close to Panjim in honor of Dr. BR Ambedkar’s 135th birthday.
“We have set aside 2,500 square meters of land today to build Ambedkar Bhawan close to Panjim. For the same, Rs 10 crores have been set aside. On an occasion here, Sawant said that the construction will begin in six months and be finished in two years.