Kerala’s Ernakulam Sees 2,800 NDPS Cases in First 7 Months of 2025

Swift Summary

• The Ernakulam Excise Division registered 866 cases under the NDPS Act from january 1, 2025, to July 18, 2025, arresting 862 accused.
• seizures include 39 vehicles, ₹5.82 lakh, and large quantities of drugs:

– Ganja: 357 kg
– MDMA: 408 g
– Heroin: 348 g
– Hashish oil: 88 g
– Other drugs include methamphetamine (13 g) and LSD (0.84 g) among others.

• Two guns were seized during enforcement activities; women are increasingly being used as drug carriers.
• Drugs smuggled through trains have risen as excise checks intensified on inter-state buses.
• Rural police registered a record-breaking number of NDPS cases (2,068 in six months), surpassing annual totals for previous years.

– Comparisons to 2024 seizures show significant increases for ganja (20 kg versus entire year’s total of 225 kg) and MDMA (750 g matching the yearly total).
– Banned tobacco products were also confiscated from local warehouses.
– Smuggling hubs identified include Assam,Odisha,Andhra Pradesh,West Bengal for ganja; synthetic drugs traced back to Bengaluru,Goa & delhi.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The increased vigilance by law enforcement agencies in Ernakulam underscores both growing concerns over drug trafficking and improving institutional capability with recruitment efforts addressing prior staff shortages. The rise in NDPS cases indicates tightening control but highlights the shifting tactics of smugglers-including train usage-and troubling trends like employing women as carriers.

The data further reveals a changing drug landscape where synthetic substances like MDMA are gaining prominence alongside traditional narcotics such as ganja. This suggests evolving preferences or logistical adaptations within illicit markets.

While these developments reflect commendable strides in enforcement through systematic crackdowns across rural areas and inter-state routes,deeper policy-level interventions targeting supply chains-especially networks exploiting migrant communities-are vital. Collaborative policing across states may play a key role given the interstate smuggling routes highlighted here.

Read more at The Hindu.