CSG steps up vigil after bundles of ganja shore up Mayiladuthurai, Karaikal coasts
NAGAPATTINAM: In the wake of bundles of ganja shoring up on the coasts of Mayiladuthurai and Karaikal over the past week, the coastal security group (CSG) stepped up patrol along the coast in a major bid to crackdown on smuggling via the sea route.
According to sources, bundles of ganja shored up in villages such as Chandrapadi and Chinnoorpettai in the Mayiladuthurai district, and in TR Pattinam Pattinacherry in the Karaikal district, over the past week. A CSG officer said,
"Smugglers might have dropped the contraband from their vessels into the sea after being traced down by marine officers, and the contraband must have washed ashore." CSG officers, pointing to the possible involvement of Sri Lankan drug cartels, say the bundles of ganja that shored up may have been the result of a smuggling bid that went awry.
Drug cartels have in the past cashed in on the coast off Nagapattinam to smuggle contraband from states such as Andhra Pradesh and Kerala to Sri Lanka and other countries. It is to be noted that a group of three Sri Lankans were arrested last week in Vedaranyam for allegedly crossing the IMBL.
With news of ganja smuggling via sea route making headlines, the CSG has decided to step up vigil and launch an aggressive crackdown across the delta districts. They sought support from fisherfolk communities.