The Kochi City Shadow police on Thursday arrested a Chennai resident on the charge of possessing 2 kg of methamphetamine, a stimulant party drug that also goes by the name ‘ice meth’.
The police said the drug, costing around ₹5 crore, was reportedly smuggled into the city targeting New Year celebrations.
The arrested was identified as S. Ibrahim, 59, of Mount Road in Chennai. The contraband was meant for sale in smaller lots across the State.
Two litres of suspected hashish oil was also seized from him.
The police were tailing a Chennai-based racket engaged in smuggling drugs across the country on a tip-off received by City Police Commissioner M.P. Dinesh.
Under surveillance
The phone calls and social media messages of the gang were under surveillance.
The police claimed it was the first methamphetamine seizure of such a magnitude in the State.
The drug produced mainly in Malaysia and Singapore was smuggled out to Sri Lanka by sea from where it was delivered to the port cities of Chennai and Thoothukudi using refugees as carriers.
The accused was part of the racket that delivered the drug to Mumbai, Goa, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi using a network of agents, a release quoted J. Himendranath, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Kochi City) as saying.
The arrest was made by a team led by Biji George, Assistant Commissioner of Police, District Crime Branch, and comprised A.B. Vibin, Sub-inspector, Shadow Police; Vibindas, Sub-Inspector, North Police; and civil police officers Afsal, Usman, Sanu, Vinod, and Sanumon.
