In yet another major drug haul off India’s coast, Indian Coast Guard (ICG) along with Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) recently seized a Pakistani boat with around 86kg of heroin worth Rs 600 crore and arrested its crew of 14 from the neighbouring country.
This was the second significant operation against the drug mafia within days.
Two days before the seizure, mephedrone valued at Rs 230 crore from three labs located in Rajasthan’s Sirohi, two in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, and one in Amreli, Gujarat were seized in raids that led to the arrest of 13 people.
In March, the Indian Coast Guard apprehended six Pakistani nationals along with narcotics worth Rs 480 crores off Porbandar coast.
In February, the Indian Navy and the NCB seized drugs worth about 3,300 kg from a vessel near Porbandar, marking the largest drug bust in recent history.
In some cases, arms and ammunition were seized along with narcotic substances.
The Coast Guard is yet to disclose what kind of narcotic substances were recovered from the Pakistani boat in the latest incident on Sunday.
Coast Guard ships and aircraft were deployed for the operation, while ICG ship Rajratan was used to identify the suspect boat with the help of NCB and ATS officials on board.
The Pakistani boat, along with its 14-member crew, were apprehended and being brought to Porbandar for further investigations, the Coast Guard said.
“No amount of evasive manoeuvring tactics employed by the drug-laden boat could save it from the swift and strong ICG ship Rajratan. The ship’s specialist team embarked on the suspect boat and, after thorough checks, confirmed the presence of a sizable amount of narcotics,” it said.
“The jointness of ICG and ATS, which has led to eleven such successful law enforcement operations in the last three years, itself reaffirms the synergy for national objectives,” it said.
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