6 fishermen arrested for smuggling drugs

The Sri Lankan naval fleet units apprehended six Indians and seized a fishing boat, on charges of attempting to smuggle 13.5 kg of narcotics during the early hours of Sunday.

RAMANATHAPURAM: The Sri Lankan naval fleet units apprehended six Indians and seized a fishing boat, on charges of attempting to smuggle 13.5 kg of narcotics during the early hours of Sunday. The names of the men have not been revealed.
According to the officials sources, the men, believed to be from Nagapattinam area, were nabbed by the Sri Lankan Navy men from Neduntheevu.
The boat that was seized was from Nagapattinam. It was said that the men were reportedly trying to smuggle heroin.

The sources also said that out of the six Indians, three reportedly did not have proper identity cards.
According to the Sri Lankan Navy website, while on patrol on a fast gun boat named SLNS Ranawickrama, attached to the Northern Naval Command, the officials detected a dhow that allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) from the Indian waters into the Sri Lankan territorial waters.
The men were taken into custody and the dhow seized on the basis of an unusual presence of fishermen from India on the small fishing dhow, it was claimed.
The narcotic parcels, boat and the fishermen were taken to the Kankesanthurei Harbour and handed over to the Kankesanthurei Police Station for further investigations.
The Sri Lankan  Navy claimed it has been continuously apprehending drug traffickers approaching the Northern waters posing as fishermen.
The officials also claimed that so far they have taken 19 Indian nationals into custody on charges of smuggling drugs into their country and that approximately 2,140 kilograms of Kerala Cannabis and 130 kilograms of drugs classified to be cocaine and heroin have been seized during raids.

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The New Indian Express
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