http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Mar42008/national2008030355423.asp
Goa cops forced to return bribe Panaji, DHNS: Two corrupt officials of Goas anti-narcotics cell (ANC) were compelled to return a bribe of 800 euros they had extracted from a tourist after the intervention of the local MLA. The incident is another slur on the image of the Goa cops known to patrol the tourist coast looking for vulnerable prey. So far no one from the ANC has faced any action in the case. The department said it is still to identify the cops involved. Congress MLA Agnelo Fernandes who was asked by a group of tourists and locals to intervene in this case, says it is a shame that foreigners are constantly being harassed by the police. The elderly British tourist was sitting in a restaurant smoking a cigarette when she was approached by two cops in mufti. They took her outside and threatened to file a case of drug possession, unless she gave them a substantial amount in foreign currency. The two cops relieved her of 800 euros – almost all the money she had on her, says Fernandes. Though he got the phone lines crackling and the money recovered immediately, Fernandes did not make a formal complaint against the two cops. "I wish the ANC would concentrate on doing the job they are supposed to do; which is going after the big fish in the drug trade," he told Deccan Herald. Fernandes said everyone in the know is aware there are turf wars being fought by drug mafias for control of the tourist coast in Goa. "The Russians are operating in Morjim, the Israelis have a hold on Vagator and Anjuna, the Kenyans have stepped into Palolem. But the ANC chooses to look the other way," he said.