Police have detained four persons with 530 kg ganja in a late night operation when they were about to smuggle the banned narcotic substance to Sri Lanka in a boat.
As the Q Branch police received information about possible smuggling of ganja from the coast between Thoothukudi and Tharuvaikulam, a team, led by Inspector Vijaya Anita was patrolling near Tharuvaikulam in the small hours of Friday.
When the police team saw a few persons loading bags in a country boat near Tharuvaikulam around 1.30 a.m., they were detained along with the boat in which 15 bags with 530 kg ganja, worth about ₹26 crore, had been loaded.
The detained persons were G. Antony Pitchai, 41, of Madhavan Nair Colony near Terespuram, V. Leniston, 48, of Terespuram and J. Jeyaston, 37, of S. S. Manickapuram, under Thoothukudi North Police Station limits, and A. Selvaraj, 25, of Thangatchimandam near Rameswaram.
During interrogation, they told the police that they were about to smuggle ganja to Sri Lanka.
The Q Branch police team later handed them over with the ganja to the Narcotics Control Bureau for registration of case and further action.
