Operation Toofan: Gym owner, murder accused held for sending drugs as clothing parcels

Thrissur: A fitness centre in the city was allegedly being used as a cover to distribute drugs through courier parcels, leading to the arrest of two persons, police said. 

The arrested persons have been identified as Vishnu (32), owner of Viva Fitness Centre and an adjoining business, Protein Mall, in West Fort, and Prajal Gogoi (34), a native of Assam who worked at the fitness centre and allegedly assisted Vishnu.

Gogoi is also an accused in a murder case registered at the Kalady police station in Ernakulam district.

The arrests were made following a joint investigation by the Thrissur City DANSAF team and East Police.

As part of Operation Toofan, police had been monitoring the movements of the two men based on confidential information. Investigators reportedly noticed Gogoi making frequent visits to a courier office in the city centre.

Police found that Gogoi was sending parcels labelled as clothing materials to Western Wholesale, another business owned by Vishnu. However, the parcels allegedly contained drugs.

Police said the accused had sent drug products as parcels to several locations. A detailed search led to the seizure of four grams of hybrid cannabis, 464 grams of cannabis and three grams of MDMA.

According to police, Vishnu has cases registered against him at the Thrissur East and West police stations, the Thrissur Excise office and the Anthikad police station.

The investigation was conducted under the leadership of the Thrissur City Police Assistant Commissioner.