CHENNAI: In a major crackdown, the Chennai City Police's Anti-Narcotics Intelligence Unit (ANIU) arrested six people, including a woman from Manipur, and seized 700 grams of methamphetamine worth Rs 35 lakh, a pistol, 15 live rounds, and six mobile phones, including three iPhones.
The arrests happened on Wednesday evening near the IOC and the Railway Yard area. Acting on intelligence inputs gathered by the ANIU, a team led by Assistant Commissioner Manojkumar and comprising the Anti-Narcotic Team (ANT) of Vepery led by Deputy Commissioner V Bhaskaran and the RK Nagar police inspector, intercepted and questioned six people based on suspicion.
Their inconsistent responses led to a search, revealing the methamphetamine that they had concealed.
The arrested individuals were identified as Mohammed Ali (25) of Triplicane, Mohammed Azhar (26) of Chepauk, Riyas Khan (26) of Melakottai in Ramanathapuram, Parvez Hussain (26) of Selaiyur, Abbas Ali (30) of Tondiarpet, and his aunt Meena alias Ameena (46) of Shenoy Nagar, who is originally from Moreh in Manipur.
Investigations revealed that Meena, hailing from Moreh in Manipur, transported the methamphetamine via train from Moreh with the assistance of her son, Aslam. She then supplied the drugs to her nephew, Abbas Ali.
Ali, in turn, allegedly collaborated with the other accused to distribute the narcotics in areas including Tambaram, Royapuram, Red Hills, and Triplicane, selling each gram of the drug for Rs 5,000. The origin of the seized pistol is under investigation.
All six accused were produced before a court on Thursday (June 5).
This operation is part of a rigorous anti-drug drive initiated by city Commissioner A Arun. Under his directive, the ANIU, supervised by Joint Commissioner G Dharmarajan and Deputy Commissioner R Sakthivel, was formed to specifically target drug networks within Chennai and its suburbs. The strategy involves coordinated intelligence gathering and operations across all 12 police districts to dismantle networks operating from the suburbs and also from other states.