The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Heroin smugglers avoid Tamil Nadu, prefer Kerala as landing point

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 03, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Heroin smugglers avoid Tamil Nadu, prefer Kerala as landing point

By K.T. Sangameswaran

CHENNAI, APRIL 2. Smugglers of heroin, meant for Sri Lanka, are now choosing Kerala as the landing point, going by the haul made by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the last one year. The smugglers seem to avoid Tamil Nadu and even if their crossing the State is inevitable, they ensure that their exposure is minimal, say narcotics control authorities.

"Avoid Tamil Nadu to the extent possible for landings and transit of the drugs. Don't be in the State for long." This seems to be the instruction of the druglords to their operators, Shankar Jiwal, NCB's south zonal Director, told The Hindu .

In the wake of the many cases of seizure, particularly in Chennai and its suburbs in the past, and with the NCB, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and Customs intensifying vigil, the smugglers chose Tirupati and Bangalore as the landing point for the drugs. The presence of some operators lodged in prison there is traced to the Bangalore connection.

From Tirupati, the usual route was through Chennai to either the Nagapattinam or Ramanathapuram shores, from where the drug was ferried to Sri Lanka. Normally, the drug lords took the Salem-Tiruchi-Madurai route from Bangalore to reach Ramanathapuram, says the Director.

With the enforcement agencies tightening their vigil, the smugglers have of late turned to Kerala, the most preferred landing points being Kasaragode and Kozhikode. They take the shortest route to reach the Tamil Nadu coast.

From Kerala, the favoured route is Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil-Ramanathapuram. The alternative is the Shencottah Pass to reach Tirunelveli and from there to Ramanathapuram. The third route is via Palakkad, Coimbatore and Madurai.

In 90 per cent of the cases, the Ramanathapuram coast is preferred to Nagapattinam for illegal ferrying of the drug to Sri Lanka, Mr. Jiwal explains. The drug consignment will lie in Kerala until a boat is ready for the journey. "Once the signal is received, no time will be wasted in pushing the drug to the Tamil Nadu coast through the shortest route."

Usually when trucks are used for smuggling from the north, the preferred landing point is Kasaragode. The rail route will be taken if the drug comes via Mumbai.

Yesterday 9.47 kg of heroin was seized in Thiruvananthapuram. The drug arrived by train from Mumbai. Three persons, including a Sri Lankan woman, have been arrested.

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