Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala meets Tamil Nadu CM Vijay, discusses on ‘Operation Toofan’

Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, on Wednesday (July 15, 2026) met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay and discussed establishing a coordinated mechanism among the five southern States to crack down on drug peddlers and combating the menace of narcotic drugs.

Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat in Chennai, Mr. Chennithala said he had apprised Mr. Vijay of the drug menace across the southern States and briefed him on ‘Operation Toofan’, the Kerala government’s anti-narcotics drive. He said the Kerala government had been successfully implementing ‘Operation Toofan’ for the last 43 days, during which it had arrested more than 6,000 drug peddlers and registered nearly 5,500 cases.

He said the drug menace was one of the biggest issues facing not just a particular State but the entire country. He said he had discussed various aspects of ‘Operation Toofan’ with Mr. Vijay and sought the Tamil Nadu government’s cooperation in nabbing those attempting to traffic narcotic drugs across the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border. He said the Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments would work together to share information and intelligence between their police forces, and thanked Mr. Vijay for his commitment to combating narcotic drugs.

He said he had also recently met Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to seek Karnataka’s participation in the coordinated efforts against the narcotics menace. A coordinated effort by all the southern States would definitely improve the situation, he said.

Invitation for Vijay’s Kerala visit

Further, the Kerala Home Minister said he had invited Mr. Vijay to Kerala. “Our brand ambassador is Mohanlal. So, Mr. Mohanlal and Mr. Vijay, who is the brand ambassador for Tamil Nadu, will be together in Kerala for a big function in August. He assured us that he would come,” Mr. Chennithala said.

He also expressed concern over youngsters, particularly school and college students, being targeted by drug mafias. He said he had urged Mr. Vijay to address students on the need to fight narcotic drugs. He also said ports, airports and trains operating across State borders would be kept under surveillance to prevent drug trafficking.