Sun Apr 13 17:49:39 UTC 2025: **Kozhikode Police Investigate Surge in Syringe Sales Amidst Drug Trafficking Concerns**
KOZHIKODE, KERALA – April 14, 2025 – Kozhikode police have launched an investigation into a recent surge in syringe purchases, fearing a link to a rise in drug trafficking targeting students. The investigation began after local medical shop owners reported unusually large-scale purchases of syringes.
Police suspect that drug dealers are behind the increase. The arrest of a migrant worker involved in inter-state drug trafficking, following a bulk syringe purchase from a city medical shop, fueled these suspicions. The worker was apprehended after the shop owner alerted authorities.
The police have since requested the cooperation of medical shop owners to monitor the sale of tranquilizer drugs and syringes. While these drugs require prescriptions, misuse of prescriptions is reportedly occurring. The monitoring of syringe sales is a recent initiative by the anti-narcotics squad, implemented in response to growing concerns about substance abuse.
Medical shop owners state that they are already closely monitoring sales of psychotropic drugs per instructions from the Health Department and law enforcement, verifying prescriptions multiple times. However, police acknowledge that lax oversight from some wholesale medical suppliers in neighboring states allows inter-state drug traffickers to obtain large quantities of these medicines illegally, with Kerala students as a primary target. The investigation is ongoing.
First Piper 