By M.K. Ashoka Bengaluru, Dec 17 : Drug cartels have been running a flourishing trade in Karnataka despite the strict vigil by the police department and special wings. The drug peddlers have targeted the IT crowd, students, vulnerable youth, and the rich class in the state, especially in Bengaluru. The disturbing trend is that the roots of drug peddling are now being linked to terrorism with the arrest of suspected terrorist Mohammad Shariq in connection with the Mangaluru blast, which was declared as an act of terror by Karnataka DGP Praveen Sood. Sources said that the probe into the Mangaluru blast revealed that the handlers behind the scenes ran drug peddling rackets to fund terrorist activities in southern India. Mohammad Shariq was focused on Karnataka and his associates carried out terror acts in the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Sources stated that the Coimbatore blast in Tamil Nadu is also linked to the same group. Bhaskar Rao, former police commissioner of Bengaluru who has joined the Aam Aadmi Party in Karnataka, had declared an open war against the drug menace in the IT capital. Bhaskar Rao was the first police commissioner to admit openly that the drug menace is literally destroying the youth. During his tenure a series of raids were conducted on star hotels and resorts in Bengaluru. BJP Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, Leher Singh, also raised the issue of drug peddling in the heart of Bengaluru city which was carried out without any fear, on many occasions. Minister for State for Social Justice A. Narayanaswamy stated in the Rajya Sabha that Bengaluru, Kolar, Mysuru, Kodagu, Udupi and Ramnagar are among the 272 districts in the country identified as most vulnerable to excessive use of drugs. He said that the 'Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan' is being implemented in these districts. Under these programmes volunteers identify and counsel drug addicts and motivate them for de-addiction. In Karnataka 34 NGOs are working in drug de-addiction. The Karnataka police had seized 21 tonnes of narcotics and destroyed it in July 2022. The psychotropic and narcotic substances were worth Rs 25.6 crores. The narcotics included ganja, opium, heroin, cocaine and synthetic drugs like MDMA, LSD and others. More than 54 per cent of the drugs were seized in Bengaluru city. In 2022, the Karnataka police destroyed 24 tonnes of drugs worth Rs 50.23 crores. In the last one year 8,505 NDPS Act cases were registered and 7,846 accused were arrested, among which 185 are foreign nationals, according to Director General of Police Praveen Sood. In 2020, the police arrested 5,291 persons under the NDPS Act. Police sources said that drug peddling is not done anymore only to mint money. The cash flow from drug peddlers is reaching the forces which are indulging in subversive activities. The National Investigation Agency sleuths investigating the Mangaluru blasts are also probing this angle. /IANS