Coast guard seizes 200 kg heroin from suspected Pak boat off Porbandar coast in Gujarat

The Indian Navy and Coast Guard seized 200 kg of heroin worth nearly Rs 600 crores off Porbandar in Gujarat from a suspected Pakistani boat on Monday.

According to this IBN Live report , the consignment of narcotics was found with 8 Pakistani nationals, who were on board the boat at the time. They have now been taken into custody, along with two fisherman found near the site. Investigations are on regarding who was supposed to receive the consignment.

Three warships from the Navy and Coast Guard and several surveillance aircrafts, including Dorniers, an Il-38 and a P8I, were involved in the operation, reports Hindustan Times .

The operation was launched a week earlier based on intelligence inputs, and the area was under survelliance for days. “Phones and GPS were being used to facilitate trans-shipment of contraband to another boat,” said a Defence Ministry statement, in the report.

Three satellite phones were also found from the boat, with the last location being Porbandar.

In this Indian Express report , the officials who traced the phones said that the heroin was stored in boxes which was topped with more empty boxes.

When the officers did a thorough search of the boat, they found the entire consignment.

The Commander of Coast Guard (North West), Kuldip Singh Sheoran, said in the report, “The boat has been intercepted close to Porbandar coast. The operation is, however, going on at the sea for verification of the sailors and contraband and will be informed in detail after verification process is over.”

This incident comes around 3 months after a boat, allegedly from Pakistan, blew itself up off the Gujarat coast. On New Year’s eve, intelligence agencies had said that a boat from Karachi was expected at the coast to carry out “illicit activities”, reports NDTV . After a round of patrolling and firing towards the boat, the men on board set the entire vessel on fire, with no recoveries found.