Keralam: Award-winning farmer held for smuggling drugs hidden in banana bunches

Dhanesh S Nair, aka Dani, a farmer who in 2022 won the award for best young farmer by the state-run Krishi Bhavan in Haripad in Keralam’s Alapuzza district was arrested by police on Monday for allegedly transporting high-value synthetic drugs, including MDMA, concealed inside banana bunches to the state.

“We have learnt that Nair owns banana plantations in Nanjangud near Mysuru in Karnataka. He has been transporting all kinds of synthetic drugs, concealed inside the banana bunches, from Karnataka to Keralam for some time. After bringing the consignments here, he has a network of people to distribute them in several districts of the state,” an officer in Aluva, who was part of the probe told HT.

Nair, 31, was arrested in Ernakulam district with 8 grams of MDMA and 803 grams of suspected Hashish oil in his possession, police said. Police also seized a portion of drugs from a bird feeder at his house.

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According to police, Nair was booked under non-bailable sections pertaining to possession of narcotic substances under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and remanded by a magistrate to judicial custody.

Nair’s arrest comes after the arrest and interrogation of two people closely involved with his network, police said.

The two were identified as Harikrishnan KS, who was nabbed from a lodge in Aluva with 185 grams of suspected MDMA, and Shinu Sebastian from Thoppumpady with seven grams of MDMA.

“From a mobile phone seized from them, we got visuals of the drugs being concealed and transported through banana consignments. Both Harikrishnan and Shinu were involved in drug smuggling and supply. They helped him (Nair) transport the drugs to Keralam and also sometimes bought from him and sold them on their own. They were propelled by the high profit margins they were getting,” the officer said.

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Police said they received evidence pointing to Nair having links with Nigerian nationals in Bengaluru involved in drug manufacturing and supply. “We have to find out how big his network is in Keralam and how many people worked for him,” the officer said.

Agriculture minister T Siddique said it was shocking that a young award-winning farmer had turned to drug smuggling.

“His acts are an affront to the hardworking farming community. It is shocking that someone with a farming background can be involved in such crimes. I have sought a report from the director of the department on his background,” he said.