DRUGS ON GOAN SHORES ARE PUSHED THROUGH KONKAN BELT IN MAHARASHTRA

PANJIM: The drugs on the Goan shores are increasingly pushed through the neighbouring Konkan belt in Maharashtra, as "it does not have much vigilance as compared to other entry points in the state", a senior Narcotics Control Bureau official said on Monday.

NCB’s Superintendent of police Ashok Thakkar said that drugs are loaded into private vehicles in the neighbouring Sawantwadi district and then transported into the tourist state in Goa or Maharashtra registration vehicles. "Usually, no one suspects a Maharashtra registration vehicle in Goa as there are many tourists coming here from this neighbouring state," Thakkar said. He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a drug awareness programme launched by Goa police.

He said that the non synthetic drugs are off-loaded from Himachal Pradesh into Sawantwadi in Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra and later transported into Goa by road. "This increasing phenomenon has been unearthed during NCB raids in Maharashtra," Thakkar said adding that Goa border adjacent to Konkan needs more vigilance.

Goa Police have already dismantled the checking booths on all its borders following allegations of extortion against them. Thakkar said that in a raid conducted near Sawantwadi recently, nearly 3.5 kg of Malana cream, a top variant of hashish grown in the Malana village of Himachal Pradesh, had been recovered. – PTI