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The Tamil Nadu police are on high alert to prevent drug cartels spreading their wings following the recent arrest of a Nigerian woman with 70 small packets of cocaine, worth Rs 5.75 lakh, at Kanathur in Tambaram.
Immediately after the arrest of the Nigerian woman, the state Director General of Police (DGP) held a high-level meeting of top police officials and reported the matter to the state Chief Secretary and Home Secretary. The DGP has directed all the district superintendents and commissioners of police to be proactive and use their sources to find out if any drug cartels are operating in their respective districts. While the drugs recovered were of small value, the police are questioning the Nigerian woman, identified as N. Onyeni Monica, to understand the route through which drugs were reaching the state. It may be noted that there were intelligence reports that the now-defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) trying to fund its activities and recoup themselves using the smuggling of drugs as a main source of income. A former operative of the LTTE intelligence wing, Satkunam alias Sabesan was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Chennai on October 5, 2021 for smuggling arms and drugs from Pakistan to Sri Lanka. It was revealed that Chennai was being used by the LTTE for managing its operations. The Tamil Nadu police are also on alert after back-to-back arrest and recovery of drugs from Kerala from an Iranian dhow and the arrest of a Keralite in connection with Rs 1,476 worth drug seizure at Mumbai port. Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin had in an earlier meeting with officials had directed the police to crush the drug cartel in the state. In August, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had announced "Tamil Nadu without Drugs" programme and had said that preventing drug abuse is his government's priority. --IANS aal/shs ( 325 Words) 2022-10-06-19:20:03 (IANS)
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