Chennai: Nearly 33 per cent of the accused arrested by the Anti-Narcotics Intelligence Unit (ANIU) of the Chennai police for smuggling synthetic drugs in the last 10 months are youths below the age of 25 years. According to city police data, between August 2024 and July 7 this year, they have arrested 534 people for being part of synthetic drug smuggling networks, of which 178 are youths aged between 20 and 25 years. Of these, 33 are college students, police said. Last October, the city police had busted a home laboratory in Kodungaiyur, where, inspired by the popular series ‘Breaking Bad’, four engineering students, with the help of another student pursuing postgraduate studies in chemistry, had set up a makeshift laboratory to manufacture methamphetamine. Methamphetamine is a highly addictive synthetic narcotic popular among the youth by the names crystal meth, ice, glass, speed, etc. “Easy money is the reason why college students are smuggling meth. Our investigation has revealed that the networks smuggling ganja and meth are not connected,” a senior police official said. Addressing the media on Saturday, city police commissioner A. Arun said his teams had busted 84 synthetic drug networks and arrested the accused from across the country, including 25 foreign nationals who were working as kingpins. “Due to the police action, the distribution of synthetic drugs in bars and pubs has come down. Nowadays, it is mostly through party circles, on whom we will take strict action,” the commissioner said. Referring to the arrests of actors Srikanth and Krishna, the commissioner said a pub brawl in Nungambakkam led to the busting of a drug smuggling network. Investigating the clues and information, the police arrested 27 people, including a Ghanaian national, John.
Chennai: 3 persons arrested for smuggling synthetic drugs
