28 April,2024 08:23 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Indian Coast Guard during the operation. Pic/X
The Indian Coast Guard carried out an intelligence-based anti-narcotics operation and seized narcotics worth Rs 600 crore from a Pakistani boat named 'Al-Raza' and apprehended 14 crew members who belonged to Balochistan, the ANI reported on Sunday.
The narcotics weighed around 86 kg and amounted to around Rs 600 crore. Ahmedabad DGP Gujarat Vikas Sahay said that the consignment was not for India but Sri Lanka and all 14 crew members were residents of Balochistan, Pakistan.
In a well-coordinated sea operation, the Pakistani boat along with its 14 crew members have been apprehended, and is being brought to Porbandar, Gujarat for further investigations, the Indian Coast Guard said in a statement, as per the ANI.
"That consignment was not for India but Sri Lanka. I am happy and proud that such has been the network of ATS that even the receiver is not an Indian, and only if our waters are being used, we get the exact information... 14 people were present on the Pakistani fishing boat, Al-Raza, all are resident of Balochistan, Pakistan," the DGP told reporters, as per the ANI.
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"After detaining them, a search and seizure of the Al-Raza boat were conducted as per the procedure in which we recovered 78 packets weighing around 86 kg and worth Rs 602 crore in the international market," he added, the news agency reported on Sunday.
"The operation was an epitome of inter-agency coordination, wherein the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) collaborated seamlessly which culminated in the successful operation," the statement read.
The ships and aircraft of the Indian Coast Guard were deployed on concurrent missions to effect the operation.
ICG ship Rajratan, which had NCB and ATS officials embarked, positively identified the suspected boat, a PTI report stated.
The drug-laden boat tried evasive manoeuvring tactics, but it wasn't enough to save it from the swift and strong ICG ship Rajratan. The ship's specialist team embarked on the suspect boat and after thorough checks, confirmed the presence of the sizeable amount of narcotics, as per the ANI.
(with ANI inputs)
