CHENNAI: The data on synthetic drug seizure available with the state Enforcement Bureau-CID has debunked a statement made by Governor RN Ravi at Tenkasi two weeks ago.
Addressing a function, Ravi had claimed the state police had not seized even a single gramme of synthetic drug in the past three years, while the central agencies had seized “hundreds of kilogrammes” of narcotics.
Official data sourced from the state’s Enforcement Bureau-CID shows that around 65 kg of methamphetamine, 145 kg of its precursor ephedrine, 9 kg of methaqualone, 2.1 kg of LSD and over 1.23 lakh tablets have been seized across the state by the Tamil Nadu police.
The data also shows an increasing trend of methamphetamine seizures by the state police units, akin to the seizure made by central agency Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). NCB has seized around 160 kg of meth in the same period (last 4 years).
The state police units have also seized at least three big consignments of meth being smuggled to Sri Lanka and beyond in the last two years; the Thoothukudi Prohibition Enforcement Wing (PEW) stopped a 7.9 kg consignment on its way to Sri Lanka in June and arrested two who were allegedly employed by a foreign drug mafia.
In September 2023, 6 kg of the drug was seized in Ramanathapuram in which six were arrested, and the source of the drug was traced to Bengaluru. In March 2023, Greater Chennai Police had recovered 9 kg of meth that had been trafficked from Moreh in Manipur. Two men from Red Hills in North Chennai were arrested.
During his speech, Ravi had also mentioned the drugs opium, heroin and hashish. The TN police data shows that since 2021, 92.7 kg of hashish, 43.227 kg of heroin and 0.489 kg of opium have been seized.
One of the biggest cases registered by TN police in 2024 was the seizure of 75 kg of hashish worth `180 crore by the NIB-CID unit in Nagapattinam in June. Two men who had sourced it from Nepal were arrested, the data shows.
TN police have also initiated financial investigation against accused and 45 movable and immovable properties worth `18 crore and 8,949 bank accounts have been frozen, an official statement by Director General of Police Shankar Jiwal, on October 7 said.
Based on investigations, top EB-CID officials said most of the drugs were bound for Sri Lanka and hence seized from coastal districts of Nagapattinam, Thoothukudi and Ramanathapuram.
“Sri Lanka has a huge market for drugs. Sellers can make 10 times the money they spend by selling them in the island nation,” a senior police official said.
Responding to allegations of rising drug abuse in Tamil Nadu, Jiwal’s statement said a central government study showed the state was in 35th position on prevalence of ganja abuse, 33rd on use of sedatives and 28th on use of inhalants, indicating drug abuse is lesser compared to other states.