CHENNAI: The Economic Offences Wing of the state police on Tuesday stumbled upon a narcotics smuggling racket when it was trailing an antique Vinayagar idol.
The Idol Wing officers said they were searching a cloth shop in T Nagar, where the idol was kept, when they came across the man delivering a high-end party drug believed to be worth lakhs in the international market.
Sources said the Idol Wing officers were conducting a search in the cloth shop in a T Nagar mall when they stumbled on the narcotics deal in the shop.
“We have seized around 900 grams of the drug, amphetamine. Our team was searching for the idol when a man who was to deliver the drug came there and our personnel seized it,” said a police officer.
Following this, nine persons, including the shop owner Rajasekhar (43), were arrested. The idol, weighing around 11 kgs, is believed to be 200-years-old.