2 weeks Ago
Chennai: An NGO volunteer who went to remove plastic waste from a beach and chanced upon a parcel that was found to contain cocaine was on Monday arrested as part of what police said was the second biggest seizure of the narcotic in the state since Aug last year. The eight arrested include Pandi, the NGO volunteer, and Mahendran, a state forest ranger in Sayalgudi, after police seized two kg of cocaine. Police said that after receiving a tip-off about a gang trying to sell cocaine, an enforcement bureau of criminal investigation department team, under the direction of ADGP A Amalraj, sent in decoys to the peddlers.
The suspects gave them a sample sachet of the contraband to confirm the drug's authenticity and quoted 2 crore for a kg. When the cocaine was changing hands, the sleuths stepped in and rounded up five suspects. One kg of cocaine was seized, besides their phones and a car.
Based on their statements, authorities nabbed three more people near Koyambedu, and seized one more kg of cocaine, three phones, and another vehicle. Police said that it all began when Pandi stumbled upon a suspicious parcel that washed ashore while he was collecting plastic waste from a beach. To identify the substance, Pandi sought the assistance of his relative, Mahendran, a forest ranger, who confirmed that the substance was high-quality cocaine .
One Palaneeshwaran also found a similar parcel and informed this to Pandi. Mahendran then devised a plan to sell the cocaine, and he contacted Kasim, a middleman in Chennai, to find a potential buyer from abroad. Police identified suspects as Pandi, Mahendran, Palaneeshwaran, Kasim, Mohammad Mubarak, Edward Sam, Mohammed Idris, and Khaja Mohideen.
They will be remanded in judicial custody on Tuesday. It is suspected that the parcels were thrown to sea by smugglers fearing inspection by law enforcement agencies..
