When a few residents on Juhu Tara Road and KKG Marg in Juhu Santa Cruz, localities in close proximity to the Juhu beach, found youngsters paying Rs100 for a pair of bananas, their initial thought was that the street vendors were having a ball.
When a few residents on Juhu Tara Road and KKG Marg in Juhu Santa Cruz, localities in close proximity to the Juhu beach, found youngsters paying Rs100 for a pair of bananas, their initial thought was that the street vendors were having a ball. But soon they figured out the buyers were not so naive – they were actually buying smack.
One of the poshest neighbourhoods in the western suburbs, residents of the areas are struggling to put an end to a thriving drug market. They say easy access to contrabands puts their children at great risk. After the local police were unable to rein in the peddlers, they have now approached the higher-ups.
The residents say a group of people have encroached upon the beach. They mostly sleep through the day and become active after sunset. To escape police action, they hide their stuff and money by digging deep holes in the sand on the beach.
With several popular joints in the vicinity of the beach, the area bustles with a young crowd in the evening. The dealings are swift and meticulous. Customers arrive in swanky cars. As a window is rolled down, a packet or two is handed over in exchange for money. Not a word is spoken. At times, consumer drop by during daytime to pick their stuff.
"They stop by only for a few seconds. There is no haggling or talk. Everything is planned in advance over the phone," said a resident, who claims to have witnessed many such transactions. The locals claim that some Nigerians visit the beach regularly to supply drugs to the peddlers.
"Buyers come in BMWs, Audis and Mercs. Sometimes we see cops standing next to a spot where drugs are being sold, but they don't even bother to check what's happening," said another resident.
Initially, the members of the housing societies near the beach thought it was a group of homeless people who had come stay on the seafront. "Soon, we learnt that many of them owned houses in the nearby slums and they had rented out the tenements. They are here only to sell drugs," said a member of a housing colony.
He add that they were now determined to drive the squatter away. "We have to do it at any cost. At least for the sake our new generation. Children are always curious about these things. What may initially seem as novelty may gradually make them addicts."
Frustrated with the inaction on the part of local police, the residents recently met DCP (Zone IX) Satyanarayan Chaudhary. "The local police say whenever they try to detain the drug peddlers, they slit their own wrists and try to throttle themselves. The cops say they fear to act in such a case as it may become a human rights issue," said a local.
Sources in the police said the sale of drugs is part of a deep-rooted nexus with involvement of big money and influential people. A source said, "How can a roadside smack seller manage to walk out on bail in two hours flat by furnishing a surety of Rs30,000. Who will give so much money for someone who lives on the beach?"
Meanwhile, DCP Satyanarayan Chaudhary, sources said, has instructed his staff take prompt action and clear the drug peddlers from the area.
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