Another case of narcotic jihad was reported from Kerala after Kollam Excise officers arrested three youths from Malappuram and a young lady who were dealing in drugs. Nishad Hamza and Salman Muhammed, both aged 27, from Angadipuram in Malappuram Municipality, Rajith AK (26) from Perintalmanna, Malappuram and Ashwani Unnikrishnan (22) from Karunagapalli, Kollam were caught with the deadly drug called MDMA in their possession.    

According to police, Ashwani and her male friends were studying in Bengaluru for the past three years. Hamza groomed the girl, plied her with drugs and once she became a full-blown drug addict forced her into drug trafficking.  

Hamza also made Ashwini carry the drugs from Bengaluru at regular intervals and used to come and collect them from Karunagapalli. As usual, Hamza and his friends had come down to collect the drugs at night on December 18. 

They were caught close to a bridge that was being constructed near Azhikkal Beach. Police have confiscated a car that was used by the drug runners. All the accused were produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.

Excise Range Preventive Officer PL Vijilal said that excise shadow teams had intensified surveillance on beaches, harbors, tourist spots and railway stations on the special instructions of Kollam Deputy Excise Commissioner B Suresh.

Madhyamam, a local Islamist media daily tried to twist the incident and insinuated that the much younger Hindu girl trapped the others into drug abuse and trafficking.  

History of traffickers using young Hindu women 

Last month, Ernakulam rural police apprehended Anas (41), Faizal (35) and Varsha (22) and recovered 225 kg of cannabis from Perumbavoor. Faizal had groomed the much younger Varsha and married her. The contraband bought for Rs.2,000 per kg from Andhra Pradesh was being sold for Rs.30,000 per kg in Kerala.  

Varsha us from Shankhumugham near Thiruvananthapuram and the Islamists were using her as a decoy to confuse the police. Had someone not tipped off the police, the gang would still be smuggling drugs into Kerala using the same modus operandi.

In October, copious amounts of ganja were recovered following the arrest of Ahmad Nihal, Shamzad and Aneesha from Kozhikode. The drug peddlers were transporting cannabis in a car and were caught near the Medical college. Aneesha was a Hindu who had been groomed and converted into Islam. 

Perception Management

At an event held in September, Pala Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt said that Christian girls in Kerala were falling prey to grooming and narcotic jihad. He added that Islamist extremists have been using such methods wherever arms cannot be used, and were destroying Kerala’s youth. 

Following complaints from Abdul Aziz Maulavi, Kottayam District president of the All India Imams Council (AICC), a magistrate court had ordered the Kerala Police to file a case against the Bishop for his ‘controversial remarks.’

Similar incidents are on the rise in Kerala where Islamists are using young Hindu women to traffic drugs on their behalf. This is being done to avoid suspicion. Back then, no Hindu organization came forward to support the Bishop but everyone including Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Indian National Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League condemned the Bishop’s statement.  

Narcotic Jihad is a systematic plan to ruin the lives of non-Muslims. Drug peddlers have started recruiting non-Muslims as their drug carriers to sidestep the Islamist angle to the narcotic trade. Earlier women were only used to transport the drugs but now they themselves are addicted to the drugs and this makes the situation much more complicated.

On a national level, Adani ports refused to handle cargo originating from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan after one such container from Afghanistan routed through Iran was found to carry 3000 kg of heroine. Arrests were made in Tamil Nadu, and several premises were raided in Punjab in this case, including those of ex-Akali Dal leader Anwar Masih.