In one of the biggest hauls of narcotic substance, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has seized 652 kg of ganja “kept” in one of the islets in the Gulf of Mannar to be smuggled to Sri Lanka via the sea route.
The ICG personnel seized the contraband on Monday evening, a day after local police impounded a lorry, used for ganja smuggling and detained the driver, who had confided that he was returning after offloading 20-odd bags at Chinna Mayakulam seashore area in Erwadi.
ICG personnel from the Mandapam station were on a routine patrol in the Air Cushion Vehicle Hovercraft 195 in the Gulf of Mannar region, the shallow bay lay between south-eastern tip of India and the west coast of Sri Lanka, when they found the contraband lying in the third islet.
Station Commander H.H. More said that the personnel seized all the 23 polythene bags, each stuffed with 10 packets of ganja, and each packet weighed two to four kg. After completing the formalities, the ICG handed over the contraband to the Customs unit here.
The ICG personnel could not find anyone in the islet when they made the seizure. Preliminary investigations revealed that the contraband was kept in the islet to be smuggled to Sri Lanka via the sea route, sources said.
The Customs unit registered a case and decided to further investigate the case in coordination with the ICG, sources said.
The unit would hand over the contraband to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Court in Pudukottai on Wednesday.
Q-Branch Inspector of Police S. Kennedy said the seized contraband was the consignment brought in a lorry from Visakhapatnam and offloaded on the seashore near Erwadi on Sunday.
Both the Q-Branch and local police launched investigations to identify the local smuggler.
