Team Herald
Panjim: While it is generally believed that the drugs were brought to Goa by the hippies or Flower Children in the early 70s, and were sold along the beaches of Calangute and Anjuna then, the underbelly of the obnoxious substance trade is no longer restricted to the coast today . The sinful demands of the buyers are met by the hawkers and ragpickers in Panjim who are back to dirty business after they were earlier exposed in July 2019 when 3.5 kgs of cannabis was seized from them at the Parade ground in Campal.
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On Monday, a video of a woman, a girl and two men quarrelling over a robbery of a bagful of suspected cannabis went viral on Social media platforms.
Incidentally, some locals and residents noticed that the woman peddling drugs this time was the same ‘heroine’ involved in hiding the obnoxious consignment at the Campal parade ground in 2019.
The presence of a girl in the video where the trio were quarrelling was a cause of concern and worry that drugs could reach the school compounds in the city.
One of the persons involved in the brawl was heard shouting and screaming that drugs were concealed in the bag.
The Panjim police however either seemed oblivious to what was happening around or perhaps preferred to see no evil, said netizens.
While the viral video depicts how brazenly even hawkers sell drugs in the Smarty city, the records at the Panjim police station reveal that only two NDPS cases have been booked in 2022. When contacted regarding the video, the Panjim PI said that the police had identified the persons and would be nabbed soon.
It may be recalled that in July 2019, a large quantity of ganja was seized from hawkers living on the Parade Ground in Campal during an anti-encroachment drive of Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP), on Saturday and the same couple was involved in the offence.
Panjim police had seized 4.3 kgs of ganja from the site at the Parade Ground in Campal worth around Rs 4.30 lakh then.
Former Chairperson of Corporation of the City of Panjim and present Corporator Uday Madkaikar was furious over the resurfacing of drugs in the city. “After complaining and raising it at the CCP meetings continuously, drug peddling has raised its head again in the city. This is a failure on part of the police intelligence,” Uday said and added that he would raise the issue at the CCP meet the next time.
