Pak boat seized off Gujarat coast, ₹280cr heroin found
AHMEDABAD/MUMBAI: Nine Pakistani nationals were arrested from a boat, which was apprehended 14 nautical miles off the coast of Jakhau, while they were attempting to smuggle heroin worth ₹280 crore into the Indian side on Monday, said a statement from the Indian Coast Guard (ICG).
The Gujarat Anti-terrorist squad (ATS), which carried out the operation along with the ICG, arrested the nine people and seized 56 kg of heroin, valued at ₹280 crore, from the boat, Gujarat director general of police, Ashish Bhatia, said.
“When the Indian Coast Guard officials asked them about their identity, the accused tried to steer away the boat and started throwing bags in the water. A chase ensued and the ICG personnel opened fire at the boat in an attempt to stop them. The accused were apprehended and 56 kg of heroin worth about ₹280 crore was seized,” Bhatia told reporters.
According to the ICG statement, authorities brought the boat to Jakhau port for further investigation.
“For further investigation into the drugs seized from the Pakistani boat and its crew members on Monday, a team of ATS along with Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) have sent teams to carry out raids in different parts of North Indian states. The consignment was sent by Pakistanbased drug mafia Mustafa and was to be sent to somewhere in North using the road route after unloading the shipment in Gujarat,” DGP Bhatia added.
ATS officials familiar with the development said the consignment was to be delivered to mafia networks in North India.
“In the last four to five years, Gujarat has emerged as a transit hub for smuggling drugs not only to northern states. With tighter security at land borders, the smugglers are using Gujarat’s sea route. In some cases, it was found that the drugs were meant to be smuggled all the way to African nations,” said an ATS official, requesting anonymity. Since 2019, contraband worth over ₹25,000 crore has been seized in different raids along Gujarat’s 1,600-km long coastline.
In September last year, 2,988 kg of heroin was seized from two containers at the Mundra port in Gujarat. The recovery of the drugs, which probe agencies estimate to be worth ₹21,000 crore, was the largest ever seizure by Indian agencies. HT exclusively reported the seizure on September 20. The ministry of home affairs transferred the probe to National Investigation Agency after a terror link in the smuggling emerged.