The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Drug trafficking along State’s south-eastern coast may flourish

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Saturday, May 23, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Drug trafficking along State’s south-eastern coast may flourish

S.Vijay Kumar

With the fall of LTTE, clandestine boat services will resume

CHENNAI: Drug trafficking along the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu is expected to flourish with the fall of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

With no fear of Sea Tigers, the Naval wing of the LTTE, and less of surveillance or patrolling by Sri Lankan armed forces, clandestine boat services between India and Sri Lanka will increase, facilitating drug peddlers, said Narcotic Control Bureau Director (south zonal unit) S.Davidson Devasirvatham here on Friday.

“The Mannar-Galle stretch along the western coast of Sri Lanka has always been notorious for smuggling of contraband. There was a lull in drug movement since 2006 due to the intensive war. If clandestine boat services resume, drug trafficking will flourish,” he told The Hindu.

Besides heroin sourced from Afghanistan, traditional smugglers in Sri Lanka also prefer indigenous Indian heroin for further transhipment to European countries.

Mr.Davidson said the agency was in constant touch with airport and port officials in the State. “We are sharing information with our counterparts in the island nation. Our intelligence machinery has been activated to enhance vigil along the Tamil Nadu coast.”

He said one of the most wanted drug peddlers in the country, who was based in Rajasthan, was arrested by the NCB this week. G.Ramlal Gujjar (48) of Tagar Mohalla, chairman of the Bhawanimandi Panchayat, was arrested with the help of NCB officials in Jodhpur.

Involved in a series of drug offences in different parts of the country, Gujjar managed to evade police arrest for more than two decades. He is wanted by the Mumbai police and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in connection with a couple of cases.

Gujjar was an accused in a heroin case of Chennai in 2004. Apart from international links, he has a well-oiled network of drug agents across the country. He was produced in a city court and has been lodged in the Puzhal central prison.

“In an effort to apprehend absconding drug traffickers, we launched a special drive early this year. In a joint operation with the Indore NCB, Saravanan of Madurai was arrested on Thursday and 2 kg heroin seized from him. The source and destination of the drug are under investigation,” he said.

Mr.Davidson said about 100 known persons and more than 300 unidentified accused were wanted by the south zonal unit of the NCB. “Under the instructions of the Director General of NCB, we have written to all State DGPs seeking assistance in arresting the wanted persons.”

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