Chennai:
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has busted an international drug trafficking network operating between Nepal, India and Sri Lanka, seizing narcotics worth around Rs 10 crore and arresting five people.
Officials said 77.6 kg of hashish oil and 2 kg of charas were seized during a coordinated operation by the NCB’s Chennai and Hyderabad zonal units.
Two cars, a motorbike, and a fishing boat allegedly used for transporting the drugs were also confiscated.
The operation began on March 3 when officers from the NCB’s Hyderabad unit intercepted a Tata Safari Storme near Raikal Toll Plaza on the Bengaluru-Hyderabad highway in Telangana. During a search of the vehicle, officers found 2 kg of charas hidden in specially modified cavities. Two men, one from Delhi and another from Uttar Pradesh, were arrested.
Investigations revealed that the drugs were part of a larger consignment smuggled from Kathmandu through the Sonauli border into India. The drugs were allegedly moved across states before being delivered to Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu.
Acting on this information, the NCB’s Chennai unit launched a follow-up operation and seized about 77.6 kg of hashish oil from three individuals, including a Sri Lankan refugee, taking the total arrests in the case to five.
Officials said the traffickers had planned to move the drugs from the Thoothukudi coast and transfer them mid-sea to a Sri Lankan contact using a fishing boat. With the help of the Indian Coast Guard, the suspected boat was intercepted near the International Maritime Boundary Line, preventing the transfer.
Investigators have also identified a Sri Lankan national believed to be the intended receiver of the consignment and the person who financed and coordinated the shipment from Nepal.
Further investigation is underway to trace the financial network and identify other members of the trafficking syndicate.
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