Sleuths of the Rameswaram Customs Preventive Unit (CPU) have seized 380 kg of ganja, from where it was hidden in the seashore in SP Pattinam, near Thondi. The ganja was hidden in order to be smuggled to Sri Lanka via the sea route.
Acting on a tip off, a nine-member team, headed by M. Joseph Jayaraj, Superintendent, CPU, Rameswaram, seized the contraband, packed in small packets and concealed in 11 gunny bags on Tuesday.
The smugglers had planned to smuggle the contraband in exchange for gold biscuits from Sri Lanka, but aborted the move after sensing the movement of customs officials. The officials had been keeping a watch since Monday afternoon after identifying the location of the contraband to catch the smugglers red-handed, but they never turned up.
The officials had also readied a plan of action to catch the smugglers while returning to the shore with the gold biscuits after smuggling the ganja but the smugglers aborted their plan. Mr. Jayaraj’s team members waited until 11.30 p.m. on Monday, before deciding to seize the contraband, officials said.
The modus operandi of the smugglers was that they would reach the high seas in fishing boats and inform their counterparts in Sri Lanka, giving details of their location with the help of GPS. The exchange of contraband would take place on the high seas, officials said.
The CPU registered a case under the provisions of Customs Act and Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and formed a special team to nab the smugglers. This is the second major seizure in a week. On December 25, district police teams, led by Superintendent of Police V. Varun Kumar had seized 81 kg of ganja after intercepting a car and arresting six people in Rameswaram.
