The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has dismantled an international drug trafficking network operating across Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka, arresting five people and seizing over 77 kg of hashish oil.
According to officials, the agency's Chennai and Hyderabad zonal units jointly conducted the operation after receiving intelligence about a cross-border drug supply chain that moved contraband from Nepal through India to Sri Lanka via sea routes.
During the operation, officers from the Hyderabad Zonal Unit intercepted a vehicle near Raikal Toll Plaza and found 2 kg of charas concealed inside specially fabricated cavities. Two people were arrested for transporting the contraband.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the seized charas was part of a larger consignment that included around 78 kg of hashish oil trafficked into India from Kathmandu in Nepal through the Sonauli Indo–Nepal border.
Acting on this lead, the NCB's Chennai Zonal Unit launched an operation in Thoothukudi and seized around 78 kg of hashish oil from three persons, including a Sri Lankan refugee. Two cars, a motorbike, and a fishing boat used in transporting the contraband were also seized.
Investigators said the traffickers planned to move the narcotics through coastal waters off Thoothukudi and hand them over mid-sea to a Sri Lankan receiver using a fishing boat. With assistance from the Indian Coast Guard, the NCB intercepted and seized the fishing boat suspected to be used for the mid-sea transfer near the International Maritime Boundary Line, preventing the cross-border trafficking attempt.
