Thoothukudi: The marine and preventive wing of the customs department thwarted an attempt to smuggle hashish, a narcotic drug, to Sri Lanka in a midnight operation here on Monday.
Acting on a tip off that a huge consignment of the narcotic drug, hashish, was to be smuggled to Sri Lanka through Thoothukudi sea, officials of the marine and preventive wing of the customs department Thoothukudi was on a close watch and nabbed an auto, loaded with 24 kg of the drug about to be transferred to a fibre boat with an outboard engine at Thalamuthunagar sea near Thoothukudi at around 11.30 pm.
As the smugglers reported to be around 7— three on the shore and four in a boat in the sea— ran, leaving the contraband, the customs officials led by assistant commissioner Raja David Moses opened fire. Except auto driver Ramesh (36) son of Muthaiah of Annanagar, Thoothukudi all the others escaped.
The seized contraband, packed in 24 packets each weighing one kg said to cost around Rs 2 crore in the international market has been suspected to have been brought to Thoothukudi from Rajasthan. Thasthakeer, suspected king pin of the attempted drug smuggling, according to Thoothukudi police was a notorious history-sheeter.
