Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair) April 6: South Andaman Police have arrested a 25-year-old man and seized 2.36 grams of suspected methamphetamine during a raid at Marine Hill, in a case that comes against the backdrop of growing concern over the spread of the synthetic drug in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The accused has been identified as Ashish Roy, son of Vipanna Roy. He is a private worker originally from Kishori Nagar, Ward No. 4, and is currently residing at Garacharma, Murdakhari, police department sources said.
The seizure was made during an operation carried out by a team from Aberdeen Police Station acting on specific intelligence inputs. The raid was led by Station House Officer Inspector Vijay Kumar, along with Sub-Inspectors Bharat and Abhishek and their team. Police department sources said around 2.36 grams of suspected methamphetamine was recovered from the possession of the accused during the search and seized after legal formalities were completed. The accused has been taken into custody and further investigation is underway to ascertain whether he had links to a wider local drug supply chain.
The arrest comes at a time when methamphetamine use has emerged as a recurring concern in the islands. In an investigation published on March 18, The Wave Andaman reported that meth use was rising across the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, moving through informal social networks and increasingly reaching younger age groups, including youth and college-going circles.
That concern sharpened further in a report published on April 3, which said official sources had flagged an alarming rise in methamphetamine abuse among teenagers in Hutbay, with adolescents between 13 and 17 reportedly getting drawn into substance use. The report suggested authorities were beginning to see the issue as deeper and more entrenched than isolated seizures might indicate.
South Andaman has also seen earlier meth recoveries near the present location. In December 2025, The Wave Andaman reported that Aberdeen Police had carried out twin anti-drug raids in a single day and seized a total of 18 grams of methamphetamine, including one recovery near Marine Hill close to the Fisheries Training Centre. Senior police officials had then described methamphetamine, also known as “ice” or “crystal meth”, as a growing threat, particularly to youth, because of its highly addictive nature and serious health consequences.
The broader narcotics picture has also remained worrying. In June 2025, The Wave Andaman reported that district police had said nearly 24 kg of methamphetamine, 10 kg of ganja and six cannabis plants had been seized across the islands that year as part of the anti-drug crackdown, underlining the scale of the challenge confronting law enforcement agencies.
Seen against that backdrop, the latest Marine Hill seizure, though small in quantity, is unlikely to be viewed by investigators as an isolated recovery. Senior police officials have indicated in earlier enforcement action that even modest meth seizures can point to wider local circulation networks operating quietly within residential and semi-urban pockets.
Police have urged residents to share credible information related to narcotics or other illegal activities with the nearest police station. Senior police officials have said public cooperation remains crucial if the administration is to check the spread of drugs in the islands before the problem deepens further.
