Tuticorin | In a major crackdown on international drug trafficking, hashish oil worth Rs 17 crore was seized here and four men who allegedly attempted to smuggle the contraband to the Maldives were arrested, police said on Tuesday.
Similarly, about 3.4 kg hydroponic ganja worth Rs 1.2 crore was also seized from a female passenger at Chennai International Airport.
Acting on specific intelligence regarding narcotics movement, a specialised police team intercepted the consignment in Poobalarayerpuram.
According to police, preliminary investigations revealed that the high-value contraband was transported by car from Coimbatore to Tuticorin on Monday.
The suspects had planned to launch a boat to smuggle the illicit haul across the sea into the Maldives.
The arrested individuals are all residents of Tuticorin.
Police officers seized the hashish (ganja) oil along with the vehicle used for transportation.
A case has been registered under relevant sections of the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act.
The police is currently interrogating the accused to trace the source of the hashish oil in Coimbatore, and identify the alleged international syndicate members waiting for the consignment in Maldives.
Further investigation is underway.
Meanwhile, K M Guru Rajesh, Joint Commissioner of Customs Chennai International Airport, in an official release here, said that based on passenger profiling, officers of the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU), Chennai Customs intercepted an Indian female passenger, who had arrived at Chennai International Airport from Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
The passenger attempted to exit through the green channel without making any declaration to Customs.
Upon detailed examination of her checked-in baggage, four transparent airtight packets containing dried greenish-brown flowering and fruiting tops of a plant, suspected to be high-grade hydroponically cultivated Cannabis (Ganja), were recovered.
The packets were ingeniously concealed inside the false bottoms of the checked-in baggage.
The recovered contraband weighed 3,424 grams (net weight) and tested positive for Ganja/Marijuana using the Narcotic Drug Detection Kit.
The contraband was seized under the provisions of the NDPS Act. The seized drug worth approximately Rs 1.20 crores in the illicit market. The passengers have been arrested under the relevant provisions of the NDPS Act and remanded to judicial custody.
Further investigation is in progress, the release added.