Three held in Kerala's Kalady with 44 kg of cannabis smuggled from Odisha

Kochi, Sep 27 (PTI) Kerala police on Saturday arrested three migrant workers from Kalady with 44 kilograms of cannabis allegedly smuggled from Odisha by car, officials said.

The accused—Rafiqul Islam (40), Abdul Qudooze (21), and Sahin Mandal (26)—are natives of Murshidabad, West Bengal. They were apprehended by a special investigation team following a tip-off, police added.

The trio was intercepted in the Manickamangalam area near Kalady. Police said they purchased cannabis in Odisha at about Rs 2,000 per kilogram, transported it via Andhra Pradesh—where they changed the vehicle’s registration plate to Kerala, allegedly to evade detection—and planned to sell it in Kerala for Rs 27,000 per kilogram before returning to their base in West Bengal.

The drugs were concealed in a hidden compartment inside the vehicle, police said.

According to authorities, Rafiqul Islam, the main accused, arrived in Kerala 25 years ago, initially working as a helper before entering the labour supply business and later turning to drug trafficking. He was earlier arrested in 2012 in Kothamangalam in an assault case and is considered a key link in a cannabis smuggling network to Kerala, police said.

Investigations are ongoing to determine the exact source and supply chain of the contraband. PTI HMP SSK