DRI, Coast Guard seize 99 kg hashish worth Rs 108 cr bound for Sri Lanka
The country craft was heading towards Sri Lanka, and it was intercepted after a hot pursuit by the joint team of officials from the DRI, Chennai zonal unit, and ICG Mandapam.
The seized country boat with the contraband on its way to Sri Lanka from India
CHENNAI: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and Indian Coast Guard Mandapam confiscated up to 99 kg of hashish, estimated to be valued at Rs 108 crore, from a country boat close to the Mandapam coast in Tamil Nadu, an official said on Tuesday.
The country craft was heading towards Sri Lanka, and it was intercepted after a hot pursuit by the joint team of officials from the DRI, Chennai zonal unit, and ICG Mandapam.
Following a tip-off that narcotics substances were being smuggled from India to Sri Lanka via the coastal route near the Mandapam sea coast, the officials took up surveillance over the Gulf of Mannar through a Coast Guard ship on the intervening night of March 4 and 5.
“During the surveillance in deep sea, officers of DRI and the Coast Guard identified a country boat sailing towards Sri Lanka and intercepted the same after a brief hot pursuit,” an official release here said. On interception, officers rummaged through the boat and found five sacks concealed inside it.
The country boat along with the contraband and three persons on board were brought to Coast Guard Station Mandapam for further investigation.
During interrogation, they admitted that the bags were packed with narcotic substances and that they received the bags from a person at Pamban coastal area and acted upon his instructions to carry the same to be delivered to an unknown person from Sri Lanka in the deep sea, the release said.
The DRI said the said person from his house and upon questioning it was found that this man was the kingpin who organised the smuggling of narcotics from India to Lanka via coastal route.
“Preliminary investigation reveals that the seized drugs were transported from different parts of the country for further transportation to Sri Lanka by country boats,” the release stated. A total of 111 packets of hashish weighing 99 kgs valued at Rs 108 crore in the international market was seized. All four were apprehended for further probe.
