Spirit cans found at a plantation at Chemmanampathy on the Tamil Nadu border on Wednesday night. In one of the biggest hauls in recent history, the Excise department seized 4,950 litre of spirit from a coconut plantation at Chemmanampathy on the Tamil Nadu border late in the night on Wednesday. The spirit was found buried in the ground in 150 cans in three places.An Excise team led by Deputy Commissioner M. Rakesh seized the spirit after a search that lasted three days. Mr. Rakesh said that the team was on high alert following information that spirit was being brought to Kerala ahead of Onam celebrations.The plantation belonging to a person from Perumbavur was being managed by one Sabeesh Jacob. Excise officers said that Sabeesh had been booked earlier in a spirit case.Earlier incidentAn Excise enforcement team had seized 1,650 litre of spirit that was being transported in a lorry at Chikkanampara, near Kollengode, last week. An investigation following that seizure found that spirit in cans was being buried in the ground at different places on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border, and was being smuggled into Kerala at sporadic intervals.Mr. Rakesh and his team had focussed on the State border in the last three days to unearth the spirit. Excise Circle Inspector M.F. Suresh; Inspectors K.S. Sajit, A. Sadik, and K. Nishant; Assistant Inspectors A. Jayaprakash and S. Rajendran; preventive officer P. Sreejit; and civil excise officers A. Aravindakshan, M. Ashrafali, K. Ramesh, S. Sreenath and A. Arun were among the team.The seized spirit was handed over to the Tamil Nadu police. Published – September 12, 2024 06:13 pm IST