The suspects reportedly residents of Talaimannar were taken into custody while they were about to unload the contraband smuggled from a boat at Parana Palama, Talaimannar last morning. Police recovered a kilogram of heroin, brown sugar.
The gang had reportedly sailed to Rameshwaram on the previous evening around 4.30 and reached Indian shores around 10.30 p.m. They had returned with the contraband around 1.00 a.m. and reached Talaimannar around 6.00 a.m.
OIC Talaimannar police Inspector N.E. Silva told the Daily Mirror that two more suspects were to be taken into custody in connection with the case. One of them, a drug dealer in Grandpass area.
The gang had been engaged in the illicit business for sometime and had smuggled drugs worth millions in the past few months. "They travel to India in boats in the guise of transporting refugees," the OIC said.
