Team Herald
PORVORIM: Congress MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco charged the government of conniving with drug operators allegedly running the illicit trade in the coastal belt and spreading its wings in the other parts of Goa as well.
“All the members in the House are serious about this issue. But the government is not. Nobody in the House is for drugs,” he told the media after the morning session of the Assembly on Wednesday. Lourenco was expressing his discontent to the government’s written reply that there is no drug mafia in the State.
In a written reply to a joint question by five opposition MLAs, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar (represented by PWD Minister Ramkrishna Dhavalikar who is in charge of the government), stated, “There is no existence of ‘Drug Mafia’ in Goa. However, Goa being a tourist destination, narcotic drugs are smuggled into Goa for trade, consumption and transit. The drug dealers/suspects involved in narcotic activities operate in clandestine and well-organised manner. The information about narcotic activities is collected through sources and raids are conducted and the perpetrators of these crimes are arrested.”
In his reply to the House, Dhavalikar also stated that the issue is ‘very serious in a touristic State’ and urged the MLAs to assist the police in providing information about any such activity so that action can be taken. He maintained that the identity of informants would remain confidential. The Opposition was not satisfied with the reply.
After the session, the Congress leaders held an impromptu press conference wherein Lourenco alleged the nexus. “This shows that there is connivance of government with the drug dealers,” he alleged.
