Chennai, Feb 17 (IANS): The Tamil Nadu Police are gearing up for a major crackdown against drug syndicates after central intelligence agencies informed them of the possibility of drugs being smuggled into the state through the sea route.

The central agencies have warned the Tamil Nadu Police that some groups owing allegiance to former operatives of the Tamil movementswere using the state as a transit point for drug smuggling. The Haji Ali network of Pakistan is using certain former operatives of the LTTE for smuggling drugs into Tamil Nadu and from there to other countries.

A highly placed Tamil Nadu Police source told IANS: "We have got some inputs from the central agencies regarding some groups owing allegiance to the now defunct LTTE trying to use Tamil Nadu as a transit point for the smuggling of drugs and state police have commenced a crackdown against some former drug operatives and some people involved with Tamil nationalist movements."

In October 2021, police arrested Santukam alias Sabesan, a former senior intelligence operative of the LTTE, from Chennai following the seizure of a huge catch of drugs, arms, and ammunition from a mechanised boat near Rameswaram.

A huge cache of drugs was seized from passengers at Chennai airport, while amphetamine drugs, valued at Rs 3 crore, was intercepted by the air intelligence of the customs.

Sources in the Tamil Nadu Police told IANS that the police is acting on specific inputs that former operatives of Tamil nationalism, spread across various places of the state, are regrouping themselves and raising funds by smuggling drugs.

The officer said that drugs that reach the coastal towns of Tamil Nadu are then transferred into small packets and smuggled to some European destinations through cargo. However, he did not specify the route the smugglers were using to send the contraband out of the country.