Rs 7-crore narcotics seized from shipping firm in Thoothukudi

Based on a tip-off, police raided the office of Nissi Impex, a private shipping company in Gandhi Nagar in Thoothukudi. They found seven sacks kept ready for shipping. The sacks contained boxes that were designed to look like bricks. The powdered charas was found stuffed in the boxes. 

The substance was seized and sent to the office of Narcotics Intelligence Bureau (NIB). Two persons identified as Karthikeyan (42) and Edison (35) were arrested in connection to the incident.

Police sources said that Karthikeyan is a government employee working in Thoothukudi Collectorate, while Edison was in-charge of the shipping company. The duo had planned to smuggle the charas powder inside the brick-shaped boxes to avoid any suspicion. The NIB sleuths are interrogating the duo about the source of the narcotics substance and to which country they intended to smuggle it to, the sources added. 

What is Charas?: Charas is a banned narcotic substance obtained from the resin of the live cannabis plant, which is one of the cash plants in the Himalayan region. Though charas was made illegal, the agoris and the Shaivite tantris could be seen smoking charas, even today.