Police officers set up a drone before conducting aerial surveillance of a suspected drug hotspot in Kozhikode.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The anti-narcotics squads under the Kozhikode City police have once again intensified flash inspections by expanding drone surveillance over newly identified drug hotspots in the city and its surrounding areas as part of a renewed enforcement strategy to track down drug peddlers at large.
Two trained drone pilots from the Special Branch have been entrusted with conducting regular aerial surveillance and flash inspections to monitor locations suspected of being used for drug trafficking and consumption. The initiative is expected to strengthen intelligence gathering and improve the police squads’ ability to detect illegal activities in difficult-to-access areas.
Railway stations, bus stands, migrant workers’ camps, deserted plots, and large abandoned properties with old buildings, including the Mavoor Gwalior Rayons land and the Comtrust factory premises, have been brought under enhanced aerial surveillance. These areas have been identified as vulnerable locations based on intelligence inputs and recent investigations.
Civil Police Officers M. Santhosh Kumar and Vipin Das have been assigned as drone pilots by District Police Chief (Kozhikode City) A.P. Shoukath Ali to lead the technology-assisted surveillance operations. The drone-based monitoring forms a key component of the city police’s “third eye” strategy to curb the narcotics trade.
The police have also strengthened ground-level enforcement with the support of the district headquarters’ K9 squad. The unit, currently coordinated by Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) P.K. Dhananjaya Babu, who is holding additional charge as Deputy Commandant, has deployed three trained narcotics detection dogs—Blacky, Robin and Kiya—along with six handlers to assist in search operations and surprise inspections.
Special Branch officers coordinating field-level operations said the two specialised squads have been conducting intensive inspections under Operation Toofan, the State-level anti-narcotics campaign. They attributed the growing number of drug-related case detections to the coordinated efforts of these specialised teams, supported by local police units. The ongoing drive will be further intensified with the identification of new drug hotspots by local police stations and the District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force (DANSAF), they added.
According to the latest figures compiled by the District Crime Records Bureau, the City police apprehended 615 suspected drug peddlers during the past month. Nearly 600 cases were registered following the deployment of the district anti-narcotics squad and a 20-member special strike unit.
The squads seized 318.65 grams of suspected MDMA during the period. The haul also included ganja, hashish oil, brown sugar and other narcotic substances recovered from various parts of the city during enforcement operations.
A senior police officer with DANSAF said any attempt to obstruct or endanger members of the anti-narcotics squad would invite stringent action. Referring to a few isolated incidents in which police personnel were allegedly assaulted while carrying out inspections, the officer said the accused had already been arrested in some of the cases.
Published – July 06, 2026 07:31 pm IST
