Cracking down hard on organised drug trafficking, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized 137 kg (gross) of crystal methamphetamine, a banned synthetic drug, from a coastal village in Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu, in one of the largest narcotics seizures in the state's coastal region in recent years.
Based on specific intelligence, DRI officers carried out an intensive surveillance and enforcement operation during 16–17 October 2026 and successfully uncovered a suspected coastal drug-trafficking network that was attempting to smuggle the narcotic substances to Sri Lanka. The plan was to smuggle the consignment to Sri Lanka by way of a mid-sea transfer. In the illicit drug market, the seized contraband is estimated to be worth in excess of Rs 100 crore.
The operation was launched on specific intelligence that a large consignment of narcotic substances had been moved to a coastal location in Nagapattinam district to be stored and then smuggled onward to Sri Lanka. A subsequent search led to the recovery of six duffel bags containing 27 silver-foil packets, with each weighing approximately 5 kg were recovered. Inside the packets was a white crystalline substance suspected to be high-purity methamphetamine. The contraband was seized under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
In a simultaneous search at the premises of the suspected organiser, DRI officers seized Rs. 10 lakh in cash suspected to represent sale proceeds. Officers also seized two four-wheelers and one two-wheeler allegedly used to transport the narcotic substance. The operation successfully exposed the trafficking network, including those involved in organising the coastal export and in the transportation, storage and logistics of the consignment. Four persons have been arrested under the provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985, and remanded to judicial custody.
With this operation, DRI has not only taken a significant quantity of contraband drugs out of illicit circulation but has also successfully dismantled a drug-trafficking network. The major seizure highlights DRI’s sustained efforts and enforcement capabilities in breaking up organised drug-trafficking networks and stopping India’s coastline from being used as a corridor for illicit narcotics trafficking.