The Union Finance Ministry has said the methamphetamine seizure made recently in Nagapattinam is valued at more than Rs 100 crore. The haul was made by officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
Based on specific inputs that drugs were being moved from a coastal village in Nagapattinam and smuggled by sea to Sri Lanka, DRI teams carried out surveillance and covert searches on October 16 and 17. During the operation, officials found 27 packets hidden inside six large bags, each wrapped with silver foil.
The packets, weighing about 5 kg each, contained a white substance suspected to be high-purity methamphetamine. In total, 137 kg of the narcotic was seized. Investigators believe the consignment was to be taken by boat from the coast, transferred mid-sea to another vessel and then smuggled to Sri Lanka.
Searches at a location linked to a suspect led to the recovery of Rs 10 lakh in cash, suspected to be proceeds from drug sales. Officials also seized two four-wheelers and a two-wheeler allegedly used for the smuggling operation.
Four persons—identified as Bhupalan, Sugan, Manikandan and Satheesh—have been arrested under the NDPS Act and remanded to judicial custody. Bhupalan, a lawyer who had served as a district executive committee member of a political party, was reportedly removed from the party after the seizure was linked to his premises.
