Goa is not just known for its beautiful beaches, lush hinterland, fun nightlife and delicious food. There’s a dark side to the state as well with crime and drugs running rampant in certain areas. While the village of Anjuna and surrounding villages are supposed to be well-known drug hotspots, these aren’t the only places where one can find drugs. The police raid that started on Monday night lasted almost an entire day, ending early Tuesday morning. The newspapers say it was Goa’s biggest drug bust where the police found and seized a 100 kgs of Ketamine which is a banned substance.
What exactly is Ketamine?
Ketamine, categorized as a “dissociative anaesthetic,” is used in powdered or liquid form as an anaesthetic, usually on animals. It can be injected, consumed in drinks, snorted, or added to joints or cigarettes.
Short- and long-term effects include increased heart rate and blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, numbness, depression, amnesia, hallucinations and potentially fatal respiratory problems. Ketamine users can also develop cravings for the drug. At high doses, users experience an effect referred to as “K-Hole,” an “out of body” or “near-death” experience.
Due to the detached, dreamlike state it creates, where the user finds it difficult to move, ketamine has been used as a “date-rape” drug.
Value of Ketamine seized is between 4 and 5 crores
According to news reports, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seized the 100 kgs of Ketamine from a factory in the Pissurlem IDC in Sattari taluka, North Goa. The police say that the drugs were being illegally manufactured at the factory and are worth approximately 5 crores.
“The factory, originally having a license to manufacture steel products, was producing ketamine illegally. During the raid, 100 kg of ketamine was found illegally being manufactured in the premises. The factory owner was questioned by revenue intelligence sleuths,” says a police officer who was a part of the raid.
The factory that was raided, Vijay Industries belongs to Vasudev Parab, the general secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) North Goa. Parab is one of the party’s oldest workers in Goa. He, along with 10 others, was interrogated about the illegality being committed. Parab denied knowing anything about the drugs found in the raid.
Not much else is know about how the raid went down as neither the local police nor the FDA was taken into confidence. State Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) officiating director Medha Desai said, “We had no role to play in the raid as we were not informed about it. Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence conducted the search.”
Desai said usually such manufacturing industries require permission from the FDA.
“But these were unlicensed premises. Since they were not licensed with us, we never conducted an inspection of it,” she said.
Intelligence only contacted the Valpoi police after the raid and sealed the factory gates in the presence of an officer. However, they are remaining close-lipped about the raid and no details have been given to the local media nor are they allowing any pictures to be taken.
Information credit – NDTV / Herald
ItsGoa/JUNE/KDGP
