Over 4,000 kg of banned tobacco products were seized by excise officials at Uchakkada in Balaramapuram during the early hours of Monday.

Based on a tip-off, the Neyyattinkara excise range team took Beemapally native Ameen into custody, along with a scooter that was allegedly used for transporting narcotic substances.

Officials later found that the accused had purportedly rented a house in Punchakkari to store the tobacco. It is suspected that the seized products were stored for distribution to various locations in the district.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the contraband may have been transported into Kerala from Tamil Nadu. The Excise Department has launched an investigation to identify the distribution network and the shops involved in the illegal sale of banned tobacco products.