Nine Pakistani citizens held with heroin worth Rs 280 crore off Gujarat coast
In another seizure, an importer was arrested for carrying 205.6 kg of heroin worth Rs 1,439 crore at Kandla port in the state.
In a joint operation with Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad, the Indian Coast Guard ships on Sunday night stopped a Pakistani boat off the Jakhau coast and held nine crew members for carrying heroin worth Rs 280 crore.
The boat, Al Haj, was sent to Jakhau in Gujarat for further investigation.
In a joint Ops with ATS #Gujarat, @IndiaCoastGuard Ships apprehended Pak Boat Al Haj with 09 crew in Indian side of Arabian sea carrying heroin worth approx 280 cr. Boat being brought to #Jakhau for further investigation. @DefenceMinIndia @MEAIndia @HMOIndia @SpokespersonMoD
— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) April 25, 2022
The teams received a tip-off after which an interceptor boat was used to stop the Pakistani vessel, The Indian Express reported, citing Director General of Gujarat Police Ashish Bhatia.
“When ICG [Indian Coast Guard] personnel asked them about their identity, the accused tried to steer away the boat and started throwing bags in the water,” Bhatia told the Indian Express. “A chase ensued and the ICG personnel fired at the boat in an attempt to stop them.”
One crew member was injured and two others sustained bruises in the gunfight, the Deccan Herald reported.
“The accused were apprehended and 56 kg of heroin worth around Rs 280 crore was seized,” Bhatia said.
The Narcotics Control Bureau is investigating the matter.
“The accused had used a boat named Al Haj to bring in the drugs at the behest of a smuggler named Mustafa in Pakistan,” Bhatia added. “Initial probe has revealed that the drugs were supposed to go to North India.”
Bhatia said that the nine accused persons will be sent to the Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad headquarters in Ahmedabad.
In another seizure, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence along with the Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad arrested an importer for carrying 205.6 kg of heroin worth Rs 1,439 crore, PTI reported on Monday.
The consignment was allegedly imported by an Uttarakhand-based firm and recovered from Kandla port in Gujarat.
The contraband was recovered from one of the 17 containers that had arrived at the Kandla port from Iran between September and October last year.
“Though the containers were searched back then also, nothing suspicious was found by the authorities,” Bhatia told PTI. “Later, based on a specific input by the ATS that one container carried the contraband, the DRI [Directorate of Revenue Intelligence], with the help of forensic experts, recovered 205.6 kg of heroin from that container.”
In September last year, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had seized nearly three tonnes of heroin worth Rs 21,000 crore. The drug that was disguised as a consignment of semi-processed talc stones had arrived from Afghanistan through Iran’s Bandar Abbas port. The National Investigation Agency has taken over the case.