Group dancer among 12 busted for possession of five drugs in Chennai
Eight of the arrested individuals were under 25 years of age, police said
CHENNAI: The city police on Wednesday arrested 12 persons, including a group dancer in Kollywood, after they were caught in possession of a bouquet of narcotic substances.
The police seized 7 grams of methamphetamine, 2 grams of ketamine, 0.58 grams of DMT (Dimethyltryptamine), 130 LSD stamps and 70 grams of OG ganja from them. Eight of the 12 people arrested were under 25 years of age, police said.
The Anti-Narcotics Intelligence Unit (ANIU) of the city police, which has been working towards untangling synthetic drug networks in the city, had received a tip-off about the movement of narcotic substances in Ashok Nagar police limits, after which a team apprehended the suspects near Ashok Nagar 21st Avenue.
The arrested persons were identified as Pravin (27) (a group dancer), Yuvaraj (27), Barath (22), Shyam (23) and Lokeshkumar (21) of Vadapalani, Vigneshwaran (22) and Raguram (25) of Thanjavur, Sampath Kumar (21) of Ambattur, Kalaiselvan (22) of Cuddalore, Kathirvelu (25) of Palavakkam, Mallikarjun Sharma (28) of West Saidapet and Balasurya (28) of West Mambalam.
All the arrested persons were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody. Further investigations are under way to find others who were part of the network.
According to data provided by the city police, about 33 per cent of the accused arrested by the Chennai Police's Anti Narcotics Intelligence Unit (ANIU) for peddling synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine are youth below 25 years of age. Between August 2024 and July 7, this year, the city police had arrested 534 persons for being part of synthetic drug networks, of which 178 of them are youngsters aged between 20 and 25 years. Among the 178 youths, 33 of them are college students, police had said.
