Fake Anti-Drug Organisation Leader Held with MDMA in Kerala

The arrest has drawn attention because the accused was allegedly presenting himself as a campaigner against narcotics while, according to police, he was in possession of the banned synthetic drug.

The accused, Sharfin Sebastian, a resident of Kaimala in Ezhumattoor under the Perumpetty police station limits, was arrested during a joint operation by the District DANSAF team and the Ranni Sub-Division DANSAF team as part of Operation Toofan, an anti-drug drive launched by the state Home Department.

Police said they had been keeping Sharfin under surveillance for several days after receiving confidential information that he was storing MDMA at his home.

According to the police, when officers reached the house on Sunday, Sharfin allegedly tried to divert them by showing them a different room instead of his own.

A detailed search later led officers to a hidden compartment among books, where they allegedly recovered 1.590 grams of MDMA.

During the search, police also recovered an identity card identifying Sharfin as the state president of an organisation.

Police said they also seized a glass bubbler, L-shaped pipes used to heat and inhale MDMA, plastic smoking pipes and other drug-use paraphernalia from his room.

"The youth who claimed to be the state leader of an anti-drug organisation and who projected himself as leading anti-drug activities in the locality is now under arrest," a police officer said.

Police said further verification revealed that Sharfin is also an accused in narcotics cases registered at Palarivattom and Ernakulam Town police stations, besides two criminal cases at Koipuram police station, including one involving the alleged assault on women.

The accused was produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody.