A police probe into the death of two Malaysian nationals in Nazarathpet police limits on September 10, has unearthed an overseas drug racket that has been operating a manufacturing unit in Chennai for over five months. The deceased were identified as known drug traffickers in Malaysia and two of their accomplices were apprehended on Thursday.
According to police, Saravanan Innam (39) and Rasyidsyah Shahari (22) were brought dead to the Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre on the morning of September 10 by fellow Malaysian Ganesh Thevadesan (31) who later lodged a complaint with the Nazarathpet police that the duo died of unknown reasons.
The bodies of the men didn’t have external injuries, but a post-mortem examination and further viscera tests revealed that the deaths were due to inhalation of poisonous gases. A police team combed the alleged soap manufacturing unit the Malaysians were running in Mel Ayanambakkam near Ambattur and discovered that it was an illegal drug- producing unit. Police have arrested Thevadesan.
“The men were making a well-known component of the Ecstasy pill, a psychotropic drug, in the unit. An explosion took place on September 9 when they were mixing the chemicals. The Malaysians were exposed to toxic fumes after the explosion, leading to their death,” said an investigating officer.
A probe revealed that the Malaysian drug traffickers had camped in Chennai and manufactured contraband to be smuggled overseas and possibly for circulation throughout India. Investigators laid a trap for the gang’s kingpin Yogeshwaran (41), also a Malaysian, who was nabbed at the Mumbai airport, sources added.
