CHENNAI: Narcotics Control Bureau officers on Tuesday nabbed four people and seized 5.15kg of narcotic drug methamphetamine at Koyambedu. The consignment, meant for a Malaysia-based drug cartel, is worth around 5 crore in the international market.
Acting on a tip, NCB sleuths nabbed K Bala, 23, at the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus and found in his baggage the narcotic, also called meth, crystal, chalk and ice.
Based on the information provided by Bala, they nabbed B V Jeevan Kumar of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, Thameem Anwar, 38, of Kondithope and Mohamed Zahir, 46, of Seven Wells.
A senior NCB officer said, “We tested the crystals and confirmed they were a pure form of methamphetamine.” Users swallow methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug usually found in crystal form, 1kg of which can cost 1 crore in the international market, he added.
Bala, inquiries revealed, was a carrier who was taking the drug to hand over it to a person in Tuticorin.
After they found Bala had received the consignment from Jeevan Kumar, 26, of Vakadu in Nellore, they picked him up and later nabbed his accomplices Thameem Anwar, 38, and Mohamed Zahir.
The NCB officer said, “We have sent teams to trace the unit operated by Kumar in Nellore.” Kumar’s friends, who were involved in the drug business, had been arrested by NCB officers earlier and are now languishing in jail, he said.
It was through one of his friends that Kumar learned to prepare methamphetamine by adding chemicals like ephedrine and other ingredients. “These preparations cannot be done in open. They need a laboratory,” the officer said.
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