On the 6th, the customs officials received information that gold was being smuggled from Sri Lanka through Mandapam beach in Ramanathapuram district. Accordingly, the customs officials patrolled the coastal areas of Mandapam, Vedalai and Marakayarpatnam by boat.
At that time, a fiber boat equipped with a high-speed engine was speeding in the middle of the sea near Nalla Thanni Island. Officials have asked the boat to stop through loudspeakers. But they chased them away as they drove the boat fast without stopping. The boat of the smugglers heading towards Nochiurani beach next to Uchipuli hit the coral reef at high speed. Subsequently, two smugglers from the boat jumped into the sea and escaped on a motorcycle with the person who was waiting for them on the shore.
Subsequently, when the smugglers’ boat was searched, 2.5 kg of smuggled gold bars were seized. An empty travel bag was also reportedly seized. “Could have smuggled more kilos of gold in that travel bag. As the gold smuggler was discovered and subsequently chased away, he may have taken only the gold and left the pack behind. It is said that the customs officials thought that only these gold bars might have slipped and fallen into the boat in a hurry.