In a significant drug seizure operation at Chennai Airport, customs officials apprehended Bharat Vasita, a resident of Jaipur, Rajasthan, with 1 kg of cocaine valued at approximately Rs 10 crore in the international market. Acting on a tip-off, officials intercepted Vasita upon his arrival from Doha, Qatar, on April 23. The contraband was discovered in his baggage as he awaited a connecting flight to Delhi. Vasita confessed that the drugs were sourced from Africa and intended for transportation to Delhi. He was promptly arrested for drug trafficking.
This incident follows a similar interception by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in February, where nearly 2.7 kilogrammes of cocaine were seized from an Indonesian citizen arriving from Singapore. Chennai Airport alone has foiled 47 drug smuggling attempts in the past year, seizing a total of 30 kg of illicit substances.
Meanwhile, in a crackdown on drug peddling within the city, Chennai police arrested Sharmila, a software engineer employed on Old Mahabalipuram Road. Sharmila, a native of Pudukottai, was apprehended for smuggling and selling ganja from her apartment in Choolaimedu. She was supplying the narcotic to several IT company employees, sourcing her stock from a supplier named Suresh in Tirutanni, who is currently on the run.
In a separate drug trafficking case, international smuggler and film producer Jaffer Sadiq, along with four accomplices, including a former DMK functionary, have been detained in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating their involvement in illicit financial transactions, with recent raids uncovering evidence of transactions amounting to Rs 40 crore in illegal currency exchange. According to local media reports, Sadiq’s gang targeted migrant students in Chennai for drug sales, with student union administrators acting as intermediaries.
The crackdown on narcotics in Tamil Nadu has led to the arrest of 134 suspects and the seizure of nearly 140 kg of ganja in Greater Chennai City limits over the past 28 days. Additionally, 37 cases have been filed, resulting in the recovery of 17 grammes of heroin, 25 LSD stamps, 750 grammes of ganja chocolates, and 1,171 psychotropic tablets. Law enforcement agencies have also seized assets, including cash, mobile phones, motorcycles, and autorickshaws, from the suspects, with 1,220 bank accounts frozen so far.
In response to these developments, BJP media wing functionary Karthik Gopinath accused DMK members of involvement in various illegal activities, including drug smuggling, ration rice distribution, river sand theft, and liquor trafficking.
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