Anti narcotics unit nabs 7 in drug trafficking crackdown

Chennai: In a crackdown on drug trafficking across various parts of Chennai, the anti narcotics intelligence unit (ANIU), alongside local police teams, carried out multiple operations over the weekend and arrested seven people suspected of being involved in the supply and distribution of narcotics such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and LSD.

The ANIU team and the Ashok Nagar police were monitoring Ashok Nagar 6th Avenue on Sunday when they noticed five men acting suspiciously. During a search they found cocaine and methamphetamine in a bag they were carrying. The accused — Selvaraj, 26, Faisal Noor, 30, Gajendran, 32, Vignesh, 25, and Irfan, 26 — were arrested.

Police seized 46.7 grams of cocaine, 6.88 grams of methamphetamine, and five mobile phones from the group. Investigations suggest they are part of a local drug supply chain. All five were remanded in judicial custody. In Nandambakkam, the ANIU and local police noticed a suspicious car parked in a vacant plot near the Manapakkam bridge on Sunday.

Three men — Prashanth, 24, Sanjay, 20, and Yogesh, 23 — were questioned when they gave contradictory replies. Police seized the car, 11 grams of methamphetamine, a weighing machine and three mobile phones. All three were arrested and remanded in judicial custody.

Similarly, ANIU and Ice House police apprehended Anoop, 25 at Ice House on Monday.

While frisking him, police seized 5 grams of methamphetamine and 28 LSD stamps. Earlier, four men — Arputharaj, 28, Shanmuganathan, 28, Andro Binjoy, 29, and Alex Praveen, 44 — were arrested for possession of 12 grams of meth and four mobile phones. Police suspect this group was coordinating drug supplies both locally and across other states.