Indian Coast Guard seize 86kg drugs from Pakistan boat heading to Sri Lanka

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) confiscated 86 kg of suspected heroin valued at INR 6.02 billion from a Pakistani boat, which was heading to Sri Lanka.

The boat was heading to Sri Lanka through Tamil Nadu, off the Porbandar coast in Gujarat. Additionally, 14 crew members were arrested during the operation.

The drugs were seized in a joint operation involving the ICG, the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). During the operation, gunfire was exchanged, resulting in one crew member being injured.

As per an official statement, Superintendent of Police KK Patel from ATS received information regarding Haji Aslam, also known as Babu Balock, a drug operative from Pakistan.

It was revealed that a boat named ‘Alraza’ would be dispatched from Karachi harbor to deliver narcotic substances such as heroin and methamphetamine near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) off Porbandar, between the nights of April 25 and 26.

These substances were intended to be delivered to drug operatives based in Sri Lanka via a dhow from Tamil Nadu.

Subsequently, the joint team of Gujarat ATS and ICG spotted a suspicious vessel 180 nautical miles off Porbandar in Indian waters.

When the Indian Coast Guard and Gujarat ATS attempted to board the vessel for inspection, the crew resisted.

To restrain the crew and stop the vessel from fleeing, firepower was used, resulting in one crew member sustaining bullet injuries.

A search of the suspect fishing boat, which had 14 crew members, all Pakistani nationals revealed contraband materials.

This seizure marks the largest confiscation of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances in the country during the current Lok Sabha Elections.

All 14 accused individuals hail from Lasbela in Pakistan’s Balochistan. The boat’s master, 62-year-old Nazir Hussain Azam Khan, who suffered the bullet injury, received medical treatment and is currently in stable condition.

The boat and its crew members are being taken to Porbandar for further investigation.

This operation follows another recent one where the NCB and ATS seized mephedrone and other chemical drugs worth Rs 300 crore from laboratories in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

(Courtesy: The Indian Express)