8 Pakistan men held with drugs in sea
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In a mid-sea operation on Thursday, the Coast Guard and the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Gujarat apprehended eight Pakistani nationals on board a fishing boat with heroin valued at about ₹150 crore off the Gujarat coast.
Action on a tip-off, a joint group captured the boat close to the (*8*) Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) in the Arabian Sea.
“We acted on a tip-off regarding a drug consignment likely to be delivered mid-sea by a boat from Pakistan. In a joint exercise with the Coast Guard, we zeroed in on the suspected boat as soon as it entered Indian territorial waters,” Deputy Inspector-General of Police, ATS, Himanshu Shukla stated.
“The ICG in a joint operation with ATS Gujarat apprehended Pakistani boat PFB (Pakistani Fishing Boat) NUH with 08 Pak nationals & 30 Kg of heroin off Jakhau #Gujarat close to IMBL in Indian waters today,” the Coast Guard posted on Twitter.
The Pakistani nationals have been taken for interrogation to the coastal police station in Jakhau, a significant fishing harbour in Kutch district.
A press release launched by the Coast Guard stated: “On April 13, we received an input regarding suspected narcotics trafficking by Pakistani boat off Indo-Pak notional IMBL.”
“A coordinated operation was launched swiftly by the ICG in association with the Gujarat ATS. The ICG Fast Interceptor Boat with ATS officials embarked was deployed to intercept the suspected Pakistani boat. On the intervening night of April 14 and 15, the suspected boat was sighted in Indian waters and intercepted by the ICG,” the ICG assertion added. “On boarding and rummaging, 30 packets of heroin weighing approximately one kilogram each were recovered from the boat,” it stated.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the consignment being smuggled was destined for touchdown on the Gujarat shore.
The boat alongside with eight Pakistani nationals have been escorted to Jakhau for additional rummaging and joint investigation,” the assertion stated.
The Gujarat coast is thought to have change into a significant route for smuggling drugs into the nation.
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