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The Kannur Excise Intelligence team on Friday conducted a raid and dismantled an illicit liquor distillation unit operating at Peruvattam in the Alakode area of Kannur district, officials said.
During the operation, the excise officials seized wash, illicitly distilled liquor, and various items of distillation equipment used for the illegal activity. A day earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at 26 premises across multiple states, including Goa, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha, and Delhi, in connection with an international narcotics money-laundering case, the agency said. The ED's Panaji zonal office launched the search operations early on Friday, and the searches are still underway at these locations linked to the suspects in the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. "The search has a connection with ECIR/PJZO/02/2025 (Madhupan Suresh Sasikala and others), pertaining to illegal international narcotics trafficking and laundering of proceeds of crime. The searches were carried out pursuant to the ECIR registered by the ED on the basis of an FIR registered by the Anti-Narcotics Cell, Goa Police, under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, involving trafficking of narcotic substances in commercial quantities," said the ED in a statement. ED said the search operations have revealed the existence of a well-organised inter-state drug trafficking syndicate. Further, the distribution of narcotic substances on a business-to-business (B2B) basis has been traced across multiple states, namely Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Kerala. Further, during the course of the search operations, the ED seized a substantial amount of cash, along with narcotic substances, including Charas and other contraband, as well as incriminating documents and digital devices. "Analysis of the seized digital devices and documents has revealed evidence indicating a large-scale supply of narcotic substances, including MDMA, Ecstasy, Hash, Kush, Shrooms, Rashol Cream, Cocaine, Super Cream, etc., within India and across multiple states," said the ED. (ANI)
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