Disclaimer – Selling and buying drugs is illegal in India under the Narcotics Act, 1985.
Recently, the Chennai police stumbled upon a drug peddling racket that used food-delivery service as their modus operandi. According to TOI, the well-oiled network required people to be part of a by-referral-only WhatsApp group. After becoming a member, individuals could place their orders online. The ganja was then dropped off by food delivery agents as they were neither suspected nor stopped by police.
However, recently, a patrol team in the city found something fishy when they saw two youngsters giving away parcels to a delivery agent instead of receiving it as is the norm. On questioning the trio, they uttered a series of contradictory answers, after which the two techies, K Pugazh Jermain, 26, and V Arun, 25 were arrested. The food delivery boy, Lakshmanan, who acted as the courier was taken into custody too.
According to reports, both the men are team leaders at a renowned IT firm on Rajiv Gandhi Salai. And, after the police searched their houses, they found 10.5kg of ganja there. While the city police have been tracking known peddlers, they were surprised to learn about this new mode of transportation. A police official was quoted saying,
“This is the third such case caught in the city since last month — ganja was peddled in an insulated box that is hidden among food parcels.”
Revealing the modus operandi, officials said that such networks are mainly formed through WhatsApp groups. However, the consumer can only join as a member by referral. After joining, the member initially gets a free sample offer and those who referred the new customers may get a 5 to 10% commission which sometimes works out up to Rs 20,000.
Reportedly, tech-savvy consumers like software engineers and those in creative fields simply leave their emails in the group. They then have all their conversations over mail, while some others might send the Google map location of a commonplace, where they can come and collect the delivery. In fact, those who don’t use the door-delivery services have to get the drugs themselves from common points by speaking out the code words.
‘Potlam’, ‘dhum’ are supposedly the common code words and if the dealer is still reluctant, another code word ‘Kisa’ is also used. A drug dealer, who administers his own WhatsApp group, ‘Amirtham’ (nectar) was quoted saying, “Earlier, I used to roam around in a cycle. Now, everything is through Whatsapp.”
According to the cops, the drugs are brought mostly from the Naxal-hit pockets along the Andhra-Odisha border and the Sileru river belt. The ganja is cultivated, dried, and stored in farmyards before being transported either by road or rail as per the convenience of the cartel.
What are your thoughts about this absurd drug racket? Tell us in the comments below.