VIBHA VERMA
vibha@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The raid by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) of a factory at Pissurlem, just two kilometers away from Honda Police outpost and seizure of huge amount of ketamine, has raised suspicion on the intelligence gathering abilities of the State police.
Interestingly, the shed where the ketamine was discovered is located within Pissurlem Industrial Estate, which has very few industrial units. The industrial estate is right on the highway connecting Sanquelim to Valpoi, and just two kilometers from Honda Police Out Post.
Senior police officials, including those attached to the specialised Anti Narcotic Cell, confess they had not the slightest inkling of the existence of this illegal activity. “It is a miss for us. We could not detect the illegality happening in the State. Nevertheless, our team is now on the job to track details of the raid and ongoing investigation by the central agency, without disturbing or interfering with their probe,” a senior police officer told Herald.
Goa Police are, however, finding it difficult to gather details as sleuths of DRI are maintaining complete secrecy claiming ‘operations are still on’. The central agency’s raid in Goa was a part of a pan-India operation which was code-named ‘Operation Vitamin’.
Interestingly, senior police officials sighed in relief on learning that the ketamine that was produced in this factory was not distributed in the State but instead was sent abroad. That, however, does not absolve the police, whose duty it is to keep tab of such activities, even if the manufactured product is smuggled outside the State or country.
“We are trying to probe how the racket was operated. It was definitely a meticulous operation as they clandestinely worked without local agencies getting a whiff of it. Our inquiry so far has found that it was reportedly not supplied within the State because if it had to, then there would have certainly been a crackdown. The drugs were exported,” said a reliable official of an investigation team.
What has, however, confused the authorities, is the presence of raw ketamine as the officer claimed that this form of drug is usually available in liquid form. “How the raw ketamine was used and supplied, how it was converted from solid to liquid and many other aspects of this seizure are being probed,” said the officer.
