Goa police has admitted to drug sale on the beaches here even as the coastal state gears up to the busiest tourist season in December.
Goa police has admitted to drug sale on the beaches here even as the coastal state gears up to the busiest tourist season in December.
"There is no denial to the fact that the drugs is being sold on Goan beaches but we are attempting to curb it," superintendent of Police (PRO) Atmaram Deshpande told reporters here yesterday.
Goa, which gained notoriety for its drug-ravaged beaches after British teenager Scarlett Eden Keeling’s death, will be visited by more than 24 lakh visitors, which includes four lakh foreigners.
The coastal state witnesses flurry of activities during November end and December when people throng the beaches for New Year bashes with ample drug flowing into this tourist hotspot.
"Incidents (of drug selling) are happening but you cannot say that it (situation) has gone out of hand," Deshpande said.
He conceded that various foreign origin citizens including British, Russian, Nepalis, Austrian and Israelis along with Indians are involved in drug paddling in Goa.
"There is no single channel which can be blown up to arrest the drug flow. Some are organized gangs while some are unorganized. Drugs is sources from various ways but its our mandated duty to explore the source," the SP said.
The drug cartel established along the beach side eateries (shacks) was exposed recently in the chargesheet filed by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Scarlett case and atleast two witnesses gave testimony to unhindered flow of narcotics under the palm-thatched beachside eateries.
"Anti Narcotic cell is working through its information network and are cracking the cases," Deshpande said.
Even as the state police is taking steps to curb the traditional drug trade, use of ketamine, a scheduled drug available in the pharmacies is getting popularity amongst the drug addicts.
The state health authorities recently had conducted raids to curb the illegal sale of Ketamine through pharmacies dotting the state’s coastal belt but the raids failed to frustrate the sale.
Anjuna police confirmed that they had found a huge bottle of Ketamine next to a body of 36-year-old Russian, Tesla Vladaslar, who was found dead due in a guest house at Calangute.
A detailed postmortem report is awaited but prima facie the case seems to be that of drug overdose," a police official attached to Anjuna police station said.
The Russian Consulate last year had taken strong exception to number of its nationals dying in Goa.
"The illegal distribution of narcotics is an epidemic being battled by most Governments of the world, and Goa is no exception," Vikram Varma, legal advisor to Russian consulate, said.
He recalled that CBI chargesheet while restricting itself to the terms of reference has placed on record that some shack owners under the garb of providing food and drinks are actually a front for distribution of drugs.
"In the last few years, there have been a number of deaths in Goa based on the illegal sale and abuse of such substances," he said.
Varma, who also represented Scarlett’s mother Fiona, who publicly spoke about drug menance in the state, said that while ruling out homicide in all these cases, we do know that these persons have died because some criminals are providing narcotics to gullible tourists.
"A common citizen certainly cannot take on the responsibility of tackling the drug cartel," the lawyer said.
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