Food delivery agents in Kerala will soon have to register with the Excise Department after cases of drug peddling were reported under the guise of food delivery services. To counter this, the Excise Department has now decided to issue special identity cards to the persons who are working in food delivery services.
On registering their names with the Excise Range offices in the state, the department will conduct a quick background study of the delivery executives and will issue identity cards, reports the New Indian Express.
The department decided to pull the reins in on food delivery executives as two drug peddling incidents were reported in Kochi over the last two months.
The trend of drug peddling among food delivery agents first came to light during a routine vehicle check in Kochi. The food delivery person on spotting the police abandoned his vehicle and fled after throwing away a packet. The packet that he threw away was found to contain 500 grams of weed, says reports.
The Excise Commissioner of the state Rishiraj Singh on Friday told media that the food delivery executives had so far been enjoying many liberties as part of their work. But in the light of recent incidents, the Department has decided to take stringent measures and issuing identity cards is one among them.
In the second incident, a food delivery agent was arrested from Fort Kochi for peddling 500 grams of hashish. The Perinthalmanna native was reportedly using mobile phone and vehicle of his friend who is registered in a food delivery company.
According to reports, the easy accessibility which the food delivery persons have in almost all places and considerations they receive during routine police checks were the reasons for the growing trend of drug peddling among them. But with the Excise Department tightening the screws, officials hope this trend will be curtailed.