Navy nabs over 700kg of Beedi leaves in Talaimannar

Naval personnel have recovered a haul of Beedi leaves yesterday (23) during a search conducted at the sandbanks in Talaimannar.

Accordingly, a group of naval personnel attached to the North Central Naval Command, while conducting a search between sandbanks 05 and 07 in Talaimannar, found 13 packages containing 717.82kg Beedi leaves floating in the sea.

The stock of Beedi leaves was handed over to the Customs office in Jaffna for further investigations.

The Navy said that continuous naval operations have prevented a number of smuggling attempts of Beedi leaves during the past couple of days. Further, the Navy also apprehended five Beedi leaf smugglers during a search carried out at the Thalpadu beach on the 21st of July. The Navy, being a force playing a pivotal role in curbing illegal activities around the clock, had seized over 24,500kg of Beedi leaves just within this year thus far.