Chennai, October 18: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized 137 kg (gross) of crystal methamphetamine from a coastal village in Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu, and arrested four people.
The drugs were to be smuggled to Sri Lanka through a mid-sea transfer, according to the Finance Ministry. Their value in the illicit market is estimated at over ₹100 crore. The ministry described it as one of the biggest narcotics seizures on Tamil Nadu’s coast in recent years.
The operation
Acting on specific intelligence that a large consignment had been moved to the coast for storage and onward shipment, DRI officers carried out surveillance and searches on October 16 and 17.
They recovered six duffel bags holding 27 silver-foil packets of about 5 kg each, containing a white crystalline substance suspected to be high-purity methamphetamine. The drugs were seized under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
In a simultaneous search at the premises of the suspected organiser, officers seized ₹10 lakh in cash believed to be sale proceeds, along with two four-wheelers and a two-wheeler allegedly used to move the drugs.
The four arrested people have been remanded to judicial custody. The DRI said the operation exposed the network handling the organisation, transport, storage and logistics of the consignment.
Related: DRI drug seizures: 15.59 kg of amphetamine, cocaine and heroin recovered in three states, five held