It was on the night of January 8 this year that Excise officials nabbed a woman who turned out to be a peddler linked to a network, which went by the name Night Riders Task.
Though under the surveillance of the Excise for a while, it was the first arrest connected to the gang. Since then, 16 more persons have been arrested with varying quantities of synthetic drugs, and 13 cases have been registered. The latest being the arrest of two persons who were nabbed with 6.20 grams of MDMA from near Changampuzha Park around midnight last Sunday.
Night Riders Task undertakes the ‘task’ of supplying drugs, mainly MDMA, only during late nights and on premium motorcycles with fake number plates or without any number plate at all. The exchange of drugs takes place in a flash, and then they ride away at lightning speed determined to knock down anyone who dare to intercept them, making the task of enforcement officials highly risky.
“Despite arresting 17 persons connected to the gang so far, we estimate another 15-odd persons may still be roaming around. The gang seems to have a system whereby they keep on adding new members to ensure that the supply chain of drugs remains intact despite the arrests, and they don’t lose out on the clients,” said an Excise enforcement official.
The gang predominantly uses social media groups, especially Telegram, for communicating and striking deals with clients. Once an order is placed and location is decided, a time, especially around midnight, is fixed for exchanging the drugs. Before the actual peddler with the stuff comes to the location, another team undertakes a recce to ensure that no traps are set or enforcement officials are around. Only after the team gives the green signal, the peddler comes around and hands over drugs.
Excise officials got to them by infiltrating their closed social media groups with the help of the members they had nabbed.
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