NAGAPATTINAM: Four persons, including a former TVK functionary, who were arrested in connection with seizure of 137 kg methamphetamine in Nagapattinam, were remanded to judicial custody in the Nagapattinam district jail on Saturday night.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized the contraband during an operation on October 16 and 17, allegedly meant to be smuggled to Sri Lanka through mid-sea transfer.
The suspects have been identified as N Boobalan (42), a lawyer from Chinthamani and former member of TVK who was expelled by the party after the incident, J Suganathan (27), a lodge operator from Velankanni who hails from Prathaparamaapuram, D Sathish (30), and G Manikandan.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Finance on Sunday, acting on a tip-off, DRI officials conducted searches in Nagapattinam on October 16 and 17. The operation led to the recovery of six duffel bags containing 27 silver-foil packets, each weighing approximately 5 kg.
Sources said the packets contained a white crystalline substance suspected to be methamphetamine of high purity, estimated to be valued at over Rs 100 crore in the illicit drug market.
In a simultaneous search at one of the suspect’s houses, officials seized Rs 10 lakh in cash suspected to be proceeds from drug sales.
The official release described the seizure as one of the biggest narcotics hauls in Tamil Nadu’s coastal region in recent years, adding that the operation had disrupted an organised drug-trafficking network.