There may be drug peddlers, but there’s no drug ‘mafia’ in Goa. According to Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s latest statement in the legislative Assembly, organised gangs of druglords are not to be found in the State.
While his statement echoes that of Director General of Police TN Mohan, its goes against his own party colleague and representative of Calangute constituency. Calangute, by Parrikar’s own admission also in the Assembly, is on the Goa Police radar for being a hotbed for drugs.
In a written reply tabled during the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Goa legislative Assembly Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said that “there are no organised gangs which specialises in distribution of drugs in the State”. He has however admitted that drugs are available.
“While lSD and other prescription drugs etc have sources outside India, Ganja and Charas is being carried and delivered in Goa though carriers or north Indian States,” Parrikar said. Earlier Director General of Police TN Mohan had said that Goa was not Mexico.
“There are drugs in Goa ... It is still my opinion that Goa is not Mexico. Goa does not have a mafia or a lawlessness which is there is those places,” Mohan had said in May.