Medicines seized from boat near Pamban

Acting on a tip-off, a team of customs officials conducted a search at Mundhalmunai and all the boats were checked. During the raid, the team found six large travel bags in one of the boats. Thousands of Tramadol-X 225mg tablets were found in the bags and the entire quantity was seized. 

When the officials tried to obtain the details of the boat, they found that it was an unregistered one. They also came to know that it was anchored in the middle of a group of fishing boats on the beach and the local had no idea of how it came there.  

Sources claimed that the seized tablets would be worth around Rs 50 lakh in the Indian market and Rs.1.5 crore in the Sri Lankan market. It is also said that the tablets were about to be smuggled to Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, on Thursday Customs officials found an empty fibre boat in the sea 6 nautical miles away from Rameswaram coast. 

Based on the information obtained through 1093, toll free helpline of the Marine police, the boat was seized and later its origin was traced to Sri Lanka. On Thursday there were different speculations including entry of terrorists into India through porous coastal region. 

But, on Friday, it was confirmed that the boat might have been left in mid sea to receive the medicine, claimed sources. This is the second such incident in the recent months as on October 21 last year, the same Tramadol-X 225 mg tablets were seized from an Omni van at Vedhalai coastal village near Rameswaram. 

The tablets were brought from Chennai to Ramanathapuram by a private bus and were taken to a coastal village for smuggling. The quantity kept for smuggling was also huge as 2 lakh tablets worth around Rs 2 crore were found in the boxes. In that seizure also the entire consignment was bound for Sri Lanka.