The Marine Police, Devipattinam, seized sea cucumbers, cardamom and other banned items, all worth about ₹ 17 lakh, and detained six persons on Tuesday.
Preliminary inquiries revealed that the gang had brought them from Kayalpattinam in Thoothukudi district. Saddam Hussain (28) of Kayalpattinam confessed that they had planned to transport the contraband to Sri Lanka. Their plan was to store them at Devipattinam and shift them later at midnight through hired boats.
Officials formed teams to go to Kayalpattinam to search the godown there as some more goods were supposed to be brought here later. The police arrested Kasim Mohamed of Keelakarai in this connection. They were on the lookout for two more suspects in this regard. Mobile phones seized from the accused revealed that they had contacts with people in Sri Lanka.
