Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, in a written reply in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, said that that there was no drug mafia in the state. Parrikar, hospitalised in Mumbai since February 15, had submitted his replies for the session before he was taken ill. Parrikar's answers were tabled during the Question Hour today by the legislature department. "There is no existence of a 'drug mafia' in Goa. However, Goa being a tourist destination, narcotic drugs are smuggled in Goa for trade, consumption and transit," the chief minister's written reply stated.

He was responding to a question tabled by Congress legislators Digambar Kamat, Antonio Caetano Fernandes, Wilfred D'sa, Clafasio Dias and Isidore Aleixinho Fernandes. "The drug dealers, suspects involved in narcotic activities operate in a clandestine and well-organised manner. The information about narcotic activities is collected through sources and raids are conducted and the perpetrators of these crimes are arrested," the reply added.

The business advisory committee had decided to curtail the Goa Assembly session to only four days due to the CM's illness.