News Tamil Nadu

Indian Coast Guard And DRI Collaborate To Foil ₹108 Crore Drug Smuggling Operation In Mandapam, TN

March 6, 2024
The Commune

In a collaborative operation, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) successfully thwarted a drug smuggling attempt near Mandapam, Ramanathapuram district on 5 March 2024. Four individuals have been detained, and narcotics valued at ₹108 crore were confiscated.

Acting on a tip-off, the DRI Chennai Zonal Unit, in conjunction with the Indian Coast Guard, received information about the trafficking of illicit substances from India to Sri Lanka along the coastal route near Mandapam. The joint team conducted surveillance over the Gulf of Mannar using a Coast Guard ship on the night of 4 and 5 March 2024.

During the deep-sea surveillance, the team observed a country boat heading towards Sri Lanka and promptly intercepted it following a brief pursuit. Upon inspection, five concealed sacks were discovered on board. The country boat, along with the contraband and its three occupants, was brought to the Coast Guard Station Mandapam for further investigation.

Upon questioning, the accused individuals admitted that the bags contained narcotics received from an individual in Pamban. According to their statements, the team learned that the contraband was intended for handover to someone from Sri Lanka at sea.

In a rapid follow-up, DRI officials apprehended the individual who supplied the contraband to the three-member group from his residence. Interrogations revealed that he was the mastermind behind the organized smuggling of narcotics from India to Sri Lanka via the coastal route. Preliminary investigations disclosed that the seized drugs had been transported from various parts of the country for subsequent shipment to Sri Lanka using country boats.

A total of 111 packets weighing 99 kg were confiscated from the boats. Upon testing, the contents were identified as hashish, with an international market value of approximately ₹108 crore, and seized under the NDPS Act.

Earlier, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in Chennai successfully confiscated 30 kg of Methamphetamine, a substance regulated under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, from a passenger who arrived at Madurai railway station from Chennai. Subsequent investigations and searches in Chennai led to the additional seizure of 6 kg of Methamphetamine. The cumulative estimated value of these seizures amounts to approximately ₹180 Crore.

In this context, the BJP president of Tamil Nadu, K Annamalai, released an official statement on his social media platform, expressing concerns about the prevalence of the drug menace in Tamil Nadu. Despite this, Chief Minister Stalin remains conspicuously silent, refraining from taking any action or providing a response.

Annamalai stated, “On 24th Feb – DMK functionary & Tamil film producer Jaffar Sadiq was named as the kingpin of the organised international drug mafia, which smuggled ₹2000 Crore worth of Pseudoephedrine in the last 3 years.

  • On 28th Feb – ₹1200 Crore worth of narcotics to be transferred & transported to Tamil Nadu intercepted & seized in the high seas by NCB.
  • On 1st March – ₹180 Crore worth of Methamphetamine was seized by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in Madurai.
  • Today, the 5th of March – ₹108 Crore worth of Hashish was seized by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in Rameswaram.

It’s been 10 days since the link of a DMK functionary in the international drug trade made news, but Thiru @mkstalin has only been desperate to divert people’s attention like his father & former CM Thiru Karunanidhi did during the 2G trial. How long will you evade questions & remain silent, Thiru @mkstalin?”

(With inputs from TNIE)

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