Sea cucumbers, cardamom and other banned items all worth about ₹17 lakh were seized by the Marine Police, Devipattinam and six persons were detained in the early hours on Tuesday.
Police said that following a tip-off, they had stepped up the surveillance and intervened a gang along the coastal hamlet. Preliminary inquiries revealed that they had brought the banned items from Kayalpattinam in Thoothukudi district. Based on the confessions of one man, Saddam Hussain (28) of Kayalpattinam, police found that the gang had planned to transport the contraband to Sri Lanka, through an agent. Their plan was to store it in Devipattinam and take it at midnight through hired boats.
A senior officer said that they had formed teams to go to Kayalpattinam and conduct a search in the godown there as the gang had more goods in store that were to be brought later here during the week.
Police also arrested Kasim Mohamed of Keelakarai in connection with this. The police said that they were on the lookout for two more suspects in this regard. Mobile phones seized from the accused revealed that they had contacted people in Sri Lanka.
After the seizure, other Central and State agencies have stepped up surveillance, police said.
