Pollachi: As many as 159 students were taken into custody for drug abuse in Tamil Nadu’s Pollachi. The students were caught at an unlicensed resort.

According to police, a large number of college students, mostly from Kerala, had gathered at the Agri Nest resort in Pollachi on Friday to party.

Neighbours, who were disturbed by the loud music and drunken brawls, complained to police.

Police then raided the resort and noticed that few of the students were drunk while others seemed to be under the influence of narcotic substances.

The resort’s owner is absconding, and the district administration has sealed it. Six employees of the resort have been arrested.

Police have also seized the two and four-wheelers which belonged to the students.

Police stated that the students contacted each other through social media, and they had charged as much as Rs 1,500 per head as entry fee.

Police added that they found ganja, cocaine, hashish, banned sedatives and MDMA at the resort.

Police are yet to reveal details of the kind of drugs and ecstasy tablets the students had used. It is said the students belonged to various colleges in Coimbatore and joined hands to organise a rave party at the resort.

“All students were detained at a marriage hall. 14 people, including the resort manager and a 28-year-old Russian man, were arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (1985). Also, 98 people were booked under sections of the IPC and Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act,” a police officer said. The Russian will be sent to Puzhal Central Prison.

Soon after the incident, Coimbatore police carried out simultaneous raids at various resorts in the locality to check for drug abuse.