Goa Police may be taking solace in the fact that the ketamine seized at Pissurlem was not meant for sale in the State, but was earmarked for export. That, however, does not clear them for the slack intelligence gathering by the local cops that this haul by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has exposed. Though the police admit the miss in intelligence, and whether the drug was for sale in Goa or not, the implications of 100 kg of ketamine discovered in Goa are enormous. We knew that drugs were being smuggled in, but now there is evidence that it was also being smuggled out.
This haul makes it quite clear that Goa is not just a market for narcotic and psychotropic substances, but a source – a manufacturing centre – for the banned substances, that then goes even beyond national borders. That Goa is an end user has been proved time and again by the regular hauls of small quantities of drugs. This seizure proves that this was not a stray drug manufacturing unit. The raid, conducted on the unit at Pissurlem was part of an all-India operation by several teams of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence that reportedly busted an international drug syndicate of party drugs and seized approximately 308 kg of ketamine, along with 2000 kg of raw material, enough to manufacture another 250 kg.
There appear to be wheels within wheels in this racket, and it was not restricted to Indian nationals or just to the supply of drugs in India, but sources confirmed that the manufactured drugs went overseas too. Check the facts. The operation by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence spanned over three days across States and broke four illicit ketamine manufacturing facilities, one of them being in Goa. The alleged mastermind of the ketamine manufacturing racket is a UK national who was earlier arrested under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotrophic Substance (NDPS) Act in 2009 and 2012, but this didn’t stop him from continuing manufacturing drugs under the garb of a chemical factory. With 10 people arrested, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has effectively broken the chain from manufacturer to end dealer.
Now, look at the location of the industrial estate. Pissurlem Industrial Estate has few units and is situated on the highway connecting Sanquelim to Valpoi, and just two kilometers from Honda Police Out Post. It being an industrial estate, it becomes government property and the shed where the ketamine was discovered was subleased by the original owner to another – a foreign national – ostensibly on a verbal agreement. It is difficult to accept that an industrial unit meant to be producing stainless steel is subleased and nobody is wise to this. Has Goa Industrial Development Corporation taken any action on the original lessee for subletting the shed allegedly without approval? Not yet. Can it be expected soon? For that we will have to wait and see.
How did all this happen without local police and GIDC officials getting even a little whiff of it? That is something that the local police will have to investigate, even if it means probing their own. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence will complete their investigation, and return, but Goa needs to know that its land, is not being used to manufacture drugs.
