NAGAPATTINAM: A forensic analysis of the crystalline powder packed into two plastic boxes, which are said to have washed ashore in Kodiyakarai of the district on Sunday, has confirmed it to be methamphetamine, a psychostimulant drug. Mentioning the retrieval of the drug a first in the district, law enforcement officials suspect the contraband was abandoned at sea during an attempt to smuggle it to Sri Lanka.
Following information on Sunday evening, the Coastal Security Group (CSG) from Vedaranyam retrieved the plastic boxes that washed ashore near Kodiyakarai’s fish landing centre. Suspecting the powder, a kilogramme of which was packed in each of them, to be a narcotic substance, its samples were sent to Chennai for forensic analysis.
The lab investigation revealed the substance to be methamphetamine, also called ‘meth’, which is a stimulant and recreational drug worth crores of rupees per kilogramme in the international market.
A case was registered at Vedaranyam marine police station under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, on Tuesday.
CSG officials suspect that the drug was being smuggled by drug cartels in regions like Vedaranyam to Sri Lanka via sea route. “The smugglers might have dropped the drug from their boat upon spotting the vessel of a law enforcement agency such as the Coast Guard or the navy. The boxes may have drifted in the seawaters and landed near Kodiyakarai,” an official said.