The ship’s five crew, all Pakistani nationals, have been arrested.
In a joint operation, the Indian Navy and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday seized around 3,300 kg of drugs from a ship near Gujarat’s Porbandar, making it the biggest such drug seizure in recent times, the Navy said.
On Tuesday, a small ship was intercepted by the Navy and over 3089 kg of charas, 158 kg of methamphetamine and 25 kg of morphine was recovered. The ship’s five crew, all Pakistani nationals, have been arrested.
While officials are yet to specify the total value of the drugs seized, news agency PTI said one kg of charas is priced at Rs 7 crore in international markets.
#IndianNavy in a coordinated ops with Narcotics Control Bureau, apprehended a suspicious dhow carrying almost 3300Kgs contraband (3089 Kgs Charas, 158 Kgs Methamphetamine 25 Kgs Morphine).
The largest seizure of narcotics, in quantity in recent times.@narcoticsbureaupic.twitter.com/RPvzI1fdLW— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) February 28, 2024
“The seizure of drugs from the dhow, which is by far the largest in terms of quantity, was possible through the collaborative efforts of the Indian Navy’s mission-deployed assets with the NCB. The contraband along with the apprehended boat and crew have been handed over to the Law Enforcement Agencies at an Indian port,” the Indian Navy said in a statement.
The operation was conducted in the Arabian Sea near the International Maritime Boundary Line, a senior official of the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) told news agency PTI.
Indian Navy said a suspicious dhow (sailing vessel) was spotted at sea near Porbandar by a surveillance aircraft after which a ship was diverted to intercept the vessel believed to be engaged in drug smuggling.
“Based on the input of P8I LRMR aircraft on surveillance mission, IN mission-deployed ship was diverted to intercept the suspicious dhow engaged in contraband smuggling,” the Navy said.
The massive drug bust comes a week after a staggering 1,100 kilograms of the mephedrone, also known by its street name ‘Meow Meow’, worth ₹ 2,500 crore was seized in two-day raids across Pune and New Delhi.
While 700 kg of mephedrone was seized in Pune and another 400 kg of the banned drug was found in Delhi.
