MADURAI: Personnel from the Railway Protection Force and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) jointly arrested a 42-year-old man named I Clement Prakash at the Madurai Railway Junction on Friday morning. Prakash, a resident of Kannadasan Nagar in Chennai, was traveling on the Pothigai Express train from Chennai when he was detained.
Acting on a tip, DRI officials had monitored Prakash after he boarded the train Thursday night carrying two large bags. When the train arrived in Madurai the next morning, Prakash disembarked and was immediately apprehended by RPF and DRI personnel. A search uncovered 30 kilograms of illegal drugs in his bags, including 10 packets of powder and some liquids.
Sources stated that the drugs were identified as methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of 90 crore rupees. In a potentially related case several weeks prior, Thameem Ansari's house in KK Nagar in the city was raided, uncovering 10 kilograms of illicit chemicals. Under questioning, Ansari admitted his friend Abu had brought the materials from Chennai for storage. Further investigation revealed that Ansari's friends Anbu and Arun had purchased the precursor chemicals from Nigerian suppliers to produce methamphetamine locally for distribution.
Authorities suspect the 30 kilograms seized from Prakash may have been destined for smuggling into Sri Lanka via Rameswaram.