Tamil Nadu Q Branch police arrested three men during a vehicle check near Pudumadam in Ramanathapuram district in the early hours of Friday.[1][2] The arrested men were Thangaraj, Sekar and Senthilvelan, all from Thoothukudi district.[1][2] Acting on a tip-off, police intercepted a van heading towards the Pudumadam coast near Uchipuli.[1]
Officers found 140 parcels of ganja, cannabis, weighing 292 kg concealed beneath sacks of potatoes and other vegetables in the van.[1] Police said the 292 kg consignment was allegedly meant to be smuggled to Sri Lanka.[1][2] Preliminary investigation found the gang had sourced the ganja from Kerala and brought it to Ramanathapuram for onward smuggling to Sri Lanka by fibre boats in the early hours.[1] Police estimated the seized contraband to be worth several crore rupees.[1]
A Q Branch officer said smugglers normally bring ganja from Visakhapatnam and the Odisha border, and called this the first time such a huge quantity had been found coming from Kerala.[1] The officer said ganja and other narcotic substances, including heroin and methamphetamine, are in high demand in Sri Lanka.[1] The officer said a kilogram of ganja sells for Rs 1 lakh in Indian currency in Sri Lanka.[1] The officer said the consignment would have been shifted to boats within minutes of reaching the coast.[1] The officer said the Sri Lankan receivers would send a Sri Lankan Rs 50 note serial number over WhatsApp and verify it at sea before taking delivery of the consignment.[1]
The Q Branch police handed over the 292 kg of ganja and the three arrested persons to the Ramanathapuram Anti-Narcotics Intelligence Unit.[2] During further inquiry, it was revealed that they had procured the ganja from a gang in Madurai and then loaded vegetables from the Paravai market.[2] Based on a tip-off, a team led by Q Branch Inspector Jeevamani Dharmaraj, with head constables Rajendran, Senthilkumar, Raju and Raja, was conducting surveillance early Friday morning.[2]
