The police in Tamil Nadu have commenced a crack down on drugs syndicates to curb the increasing menace of drugs, an official said on Monday, adding two persons have been arrested along with 200 kg ganja.

The police have conducted searches in several places where the drug mafia operate. The searches and raids were carried out with specific inputs from the Tamil Nadu police intelligence wing.

On Sunday, the Chennai Police seized 200 kg ganja smuggled into the state from Andhra Pradesh. Two persons -- D. Premnath (43) of Adambakkam and Abdul Rahman (28) of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, in connection with the seizure of ganja.

Two others fled from the SUV that was being used to smuggle ganja into the state.

Police said that Premnath is a native of Sri Lanka and a habitual offender.

He was already charged in six cases, and had come out of jail two months ago.

Sources in the police said that raids were conducted in Madurai, Salem, Erode, Kanniyakumari, Krishnagiri, Nilgiris, and Coimbatore.

The police, however, did not elaborate on the details of the seizure of the drugs from those places.

A senior police officer said that several psychotropic drugs are being smuggled to Tamil Nadu through the sea route, adding that the presence of former LTTE cadres in the smuggling network has been tracked by the state and central agencies.

(SJ/IANS)