The NCB did not divulge the names of those arrested and said further investigation was under way to make more arrests.

CHENNAI: The Chennai zonal unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has seized 729 kg of ganja and 16.5 kg of charas and arrested eight men in a week-long operation against ganja cartels catering to Sri Lanka. The total value of the seized contraband is estimated to be Rs 4.05 crore.
Based on intelligence developed from previous cases, an NCB team camped in Madurai. On Feb 12, the team received information about an abandoned vehicle in Ramanathapuram and found 273 kg of ganja hidden inside. The contraband and the vehicle were seized.
The following day, the NCB team intercepted a vehicle in Usilampatti and seized 156 kg of ganja hidden in a secret cavity in it. Two men in the vehicle were arrested.
On Feb 15, NCB sleuths intercepted two passengers — one of them a Maldivian national — who arrived from Patna to Madurai by train. Searches in their bags led to the seizure of 16.5 kg of charas (cannabis concentrate made from the resin of a live cannabis plant), which they sourced from Patna. Both were arrested and remanded in judicial custody.
These arrests directed the NCB sleuths to Chennai where on Feb 17 they seized 300 kg of parcels of ganja hidden in a secret cavity of a truck at Nallur toll plaza. The sleuths arrested four smugglers.
NCB Chennai zonal director P Aravindhan said the Andhra-Odisha border was the sourcing point for ganja in all the seizures, except charas which was smuggled from Patna. “The gangs are not directly linked, but they were all smuggling the narcotics to transport them to Sri Lanka via sea,” said the NCB director.
The NCB did not divulge the names of those arrested and said further investigation was under way to make more arrests.