Drugs still easily available in Goa, in spite of crackdown by Goa and Hyd cops

PANAJI: In spite of a stringent crackdown by the Goa and Hyderabad police in the coastal state, the drugs business seems to be going on as if nothing has happened.

Room boys, waiters, tourists taxi drivers, helpers and watchmen still have “stuff” available for the asking and the only impact of the crackdown (if any) is that the prices have gone up by about 20 to 25 per cent, with the peddlers using the media coverage of the crackdown and the recent arrest of a restaurant owner to hike their prices.

Tourist taxi drivers, even some motorcycle pilots, hotel staff and hotel and resort watchmen continue to offer “maal” to guests who ask for it and sometimes even try to cajole a hesitant tourist to try some of their “strong”, “potent”, “asli”, “genuine”, “original” stuff.

“Saab bahut accha maal hein. 100 percent pure and genuine. Best price,” a tourist taxi driver eager to make a few extra bucks told a guest while ferrying him from the airport to a beach resort in Candolim. This is often a repeated or common statement that male tourists in groups of 2-3 may hear, while sitting in a taxi in Goa.

Last week, a Hyderabad tourist visiting Goa was admitted to the GMC after he complained of uneasiness. The tourist taxi driver who picked them up from the airport to take them to Calangute sold them some narcotics, the consumption of which caused the tourist to fall ill in the cab.

The 30-year-old tourist was in Goa with three others who had completed their B. Tech and were exploring employment opportunities. They were in Goa to unwind and “enjoy” themselves.

Such instances are common each week, but the tourists get treated in private hospitals or clinics and go home quietly without reporting the matter to the cops. Further, tourists who are used to doping are able to tell the difference in quality of the “stuff” and do not buy adulterated stuff.

It’s the new or first-time experimenters who fall ill as they do not know what is genuine and what is mixed and adulterated.

A random check in various hotels, resorts and guests houses in the North Goa coastal belt revealed that most room boys, helpers and waiters had connections with peddlers and knew where to get “what the customer wanted”. Of course, they make their commission as they always take more than what they get it for.

After the police crackdown on massage palours and spas in North Goa, several tattoo shops and tattoo parlors in Goa have become pick-up points for drugs or meeting joints for drug peddlers who give the owners a “cut”.