Chennai: Sleuths from Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had seized controlled narcotics, and schedule H1 drugs worth Rs 5 crore, in two instances from the same gang. Four persons were arrested in this connection after a hot-chase.
Acting on a tipoff, the sleuths first intercepted a container which was being loaded into a vessel in Chennai Port and the material declared was as load of dyed cotton fabric, raw materials meant to manufacture leggings.
An inspection at Manali facility revealed that as much as 23.9 kg of pseudoephedrine, a controlled narcotics being concealed in the load. The substance is valued at Rs 4.78 crore. The container was shipped by MM Exports, Mannady and the receiver was addressed as A.R. Bright Trading and Resources, Maleka, Malaysia.
The DRI sleuths also learnt that the same gang was using speed post service to smuggle Alprazolam, a Schedule H1 drug. A particular packet was intercepted at the National Sorting Facility and the package contained nearly 10,000 tablets stashed in 33 smaller packs. It was shipped to Syed Ali, Mannady, from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.
The gang which was under surveillance fled after learning about the seizures, fled in a tempo traveller and were nabbed in a hot-chase which culminated near Chengelpet.
The suspected mastermind is identified as Syed Musafar Sadiq (32). His aides were identified as S.M. Sirajudeen (31), Satish (30) and V. Packiakumar (46).
