Record haul: 1,500kg heroin seized from a ship near Guj

Coast Guard intercepts Panamaregistered vessel, eight crew members held

NEWDELHI: The Coast Guard seized 1,500 kg of heroin from a merchant ship off the Gujarat shoreline on Saturday, which could be the biggest single haul of narcotics in India.

The contraband is estimated to be around ₹4,500 crore in the international market.

The vessel was spotted around 380km off Dwarka through surveillance mounted by the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), a government intelligence-gathering agency. “The NTRO shared the intelligence about the suspect vessel on July 27 and the Coast Guard was notified. Intelligence suggested the crew was negotiating the mode of payment for the contraband and its intended destination,” said an official who didn’t wish to be named.

They finally decided the hawala channel for payment, the offi- cial added. The NTRO sent out updates and the Coast Guard pressed its ships and aircraft to observe and prevent the vessel from escaping. The Panama-registered vessel, Prince, was finally intercepted on Saturday and brought to Porbandar.

“Eight crew members were arrested. They are Indian. They are being questioned to know the

final destination of the contraband,” said an official of the Narcotics Control Bureau, which is now investigating the case.

Law doesn’t allow bail to anyone caught smuggling or possessing narcotics in India.

Sources in the narcotics bureau said the ship’s last port of call was Chabahar in Iran and it was probably carrying Afghan

heroin for an Indian gang.

The drug is smuggled from Afghanistan through neighbouring Pakistan, making its way into India through the northern border and western coastal waters.

Former narcotics bureau zonal director Rohit Sharma, drug cartels are increasingly using the maritime route to bring heroin from Afghanistan.