CHENNAI: Greater Chennai Police (GCP) made its biggest seizure of the internationally popular narcotic methamphetamine seizing 16 kg of the contraband from a house in Red hills in North Chennai on Monday, busting an international syndicate.
The city police have now seized around 17.8 kg of the drug from just this syndicate alone, pegging the value at Rs 17 crore, though the central agency Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) estimates it to be Rs 10 crore per kg.
The biggest reported case of methamphetamine seizure in Tamil Nadu in 2024 was the 36 kg bust by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in Madurai in March. The 16 kg bust by GCP is likely to be the second-biggest this year.
The methamphetamine was being sourced from Myanmar and brought to Chennai via Manipur; another starting point identified is Haryana, an official statement from GCP said.
According to an official statement, the genesis of this bust lies in the seizure of 1.5 kg of methamphetamine from one Venkatesan alias Rajesh from Madhavaram on December 21.
Working on this lead, GCP officials seized 15.9 kg of the drug from a house in Vadakarai in Red Hills area on Monday night.
Investigations found that Venkatesan had been convicted of a drug offence in Punjab’s Patiala and had come out of jail in 2021 after serving a seven-year jail sentence. Immediately after this, he had ganged up with his relative Prabhu of Kodungaiyur and Shanmugam of Urapakkam to traffic methamphetamine and its precursor pseudoephedrine from Myanmar (via Manipur) and Haryana to Chennai.
The probe also led GCP to Shahul Hameed and Lawrence, who were found to be in possession of 128 gm of meth. The duo had invested the alleged proceeds of drug trade into two houses worth Rs 5 crore, documents of which were seized for attachment.
Venkatesan’s wife Jawas Merida and Sarathkumar from Chennai were also arrested on Monday for helping the former in the drug trade and possession of 157 gm of the drug, police said.
The investigation also led GCP cops to Lakshmi Narasimhan of Madurai who was arrested with 150 gm of meth on Monday, police said, adding that he has also been arrested.
Totally a syndicate of 10 persons has been arrested and 17.815 kg of methamphetamine worth Rs 17 crore and properties worth Rs 5 crore has been seized in this case. Further investigations are under way to identify the front and backward linkages in this case, sources said.