The drug mafia can only be defeated with public participation: Minister

Warning that the international drug lobby is trying to tighten its grip on Kerala and lure children into drug addiction, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said the government’s aim is to mobilize the entire population against the menace through Operation Toofan.

He was inaugurating the anti-drug campaign ‘Operation Toofan: The Narco Hunt’ by the district-level anti-narcotics unit of the Kerala Police at Kunnamangalam in Kozhikode on Saturday (June 20). Mr. Chennithala said the fight against the drug mafia can only succeed if children, parents and the public join the effort.

The Minister said that Operation Toofan has launched a major campaign against alcohol and narcotics. “The prevalence of drug abuse has reached such a level that parents are even afraid to send their children to school. If a new Kerala is to be built, a new generation must be brought up drug-free,” he said.

Mr. Chennithala said that only the youth of Kerala had the power to break the active drug lobby and urged them to become part of Operation Toofan to eradicate its roots.

He passed the anti-drug torch to MA Razak Master, MLA. The Minister also presented awards to the students who excelled in SSLC, Higher Secondary, LSS, USS and NMMS examinations and launched the One Million Target Anti-Drug Campaign and Edu Carnival in Kunnamangalam Assembly Constituency.

Mr. Razak presided. MPs MK Raghavan and MLA K. Praveen Kumar attended.

Published – 20 Jun 2026 19:23 IST