Smugglers try to trade turmeric for gold, held

The arrests were made at Vethalai on Tuesday night when the team intercepted a van and found 15 gunny bags stuffed with turmeric. Ramanathapuram SP V Varun Kumar said the seized gunny bags contained 600 kilos of turmeric.

The accused, Abdul Mubarak of Vethalai revealed that Hakkeem, a Sri Lankan national, recently called him saying there’s a huge demand for turmeric, which tends to boost immunity to protect people from contracting COVID. Mubarak was told to ship large quantities of turmeric, and gold biscuits worth Rs 6 lakh would be shipped in return as compensation.

They planned to smuggle the turmeric by sea to Sri Lanka from Kunthukal near Pamban on Wednesday night. In addition to Abdul Mubarak, Babu Hussein of Kunthukal and Armstrong, the boat owner from Thangachimadam, were also held.