In a major haul, cocaine and

heroin meant to be smuggled to Sri Lanka were seized and nine people arrested in this connection in Thiruvaadhanai in Ramanathapuram district, police said on Friday.

Seven out of the nine arrested were from a northern state.

Cocaine and heroin weighing 3 kg and 5 kg respectively were recovered by a team led by Superintendent of Police Varun Kumar, which intercepted an autorickshaw during a routine patrol on the east coast road on Thursday.

During interrogation, the accused revealed that the drugs were meant to be smuggled to the island nation in a country boat.

One tonne red sanders, some cell phones and cash to the tune of over Rs 2 lakhs was also confiscated, they said.

The drugs were estimated to be between Rs 5 and Rs 7 crore in the international market.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)