CHENNAI: A major methamphetamine smuggling racket was busted in a joint operation conducted by Narcotics Control Bureaus (NCB) of Chennai, Bengaluru, and Imphal on December 28. Eight people were arrested and 15.8 kg of the drug was seized during the operation.
On December 21, Chennai Zone NCB seized 4.8 kg of meth and arrested four people. Initial inquiries revealed that the gang had smuggled drug from Moreh in Manipur. Following this, a joint team was formed under the supervision of the Zonal Director, Chennai and officers from NCBs in Chennai and Bengaluru were sent to Imphal, where they conducted surveillance for three days.
The NCB officers in Imphal arrested the financier who handled hawala transactions and recovered Rs 10 lakh cash. The sleuths learnt that contraband was brought to Moreh from Tamu in Myanmar. They smuggled drug to Sri Lanka in fake tea packets via Imphal, Guwahati and Chennai. The suspects arrested in Chennai were Selvam (45), Chinthamani (33), Joseph Justin Paul (36) and Saravanan (55), while those apprehended in Moreh were Roshan Kumar (23), Kalaimani (33), Reena (30) and Ravi Devar (42).