Biggest drug seizure during Lok Sabha polls worth Rs 602 Crore; 14 held from Pakistani boat

Mangalore Today News Network/News18

New Delhi, April 29, 2024: Indian authorities seized 78 boxes of contraband, suspected to be heroin, weighing roughly 86 kg from a Pakistani fishing boat, marking the biggest seizure of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) during the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. In a statement, Gujarat ATS said the mid-sea operation was carried out jointly by Gujarat ATS, the Indian Coast Guard and the Narcotics Control Bureau.

 

“Due to the enforcement of MCC in the country, all the enforcement agencies are on high alert in the State. During this period, information was received by K K Patel, Superintendent of Police, Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) that a Pakistani drug operative named Haji Aslam alias Babu Baloch would be sending a Pakistani fishing boat, ‘Alraza’ bearing registration number 339-BB-BFD from Karachi harbour to deliver narcotic substance like Heroin or Methamphetamine,” the statement reads.

The boat was to deliver the contraband in the intervening night of April 25 and April 26 in the Indian waters near IMBL off Porbandar Coast and the said contraband would be delivered to a Dhow from Tamil Nadu to be further delivered to Sri Lanka-based drug operatives. Based on this information, a joint team of Gujarat ATS and Indian Coast Guard had commenced an operation from Porbandar on board ICGS Rajratan and in the intervening night, identified a suspicious vessel in the Indian waters, 180 NM off Porbandar, Gujarat.

“The Indian Coast Guard and Gujarat ATS team that had tried to board the vessel for checking was obstructed by the crew of the suspect boat and to restrain the crew and to stop the fleeing vessel, firepower was used in which one member of the crew of the vessel sustained bullet injuries,” the statement added. The master of the boat, Nazir Hussain Azam Khan aged 62, had suffered a bullet injury during the mid-sea operation and was evacuated for further medical care. He has been operated upon and is presently in stable condition. The suspect Pakistani fishing boat, ‘Alraza’ was carrying 14 crew members, all Pakistani nationals, and the search of the boat revealed contraband material.

The boat and crew were brought to Porbandar for further legal procedures. “The joint team of Gujarat ATS and Narcotics Control Bureau (Operations), New Delhi had boarded the vessel and, in the search, have recovered 78 boxes of contraband suspected to be Heroin weighing roughly 86 kgs and worth nearly 602 Crore INR in the international market,” the statement said, adding that the 14 individuals were detained in connection with the seizure.

This is the biggest NDPS seizure in the country during the process of Lok Sabha Elections, 2024, they said. All the detained individuals are residents of Julubi Maveli, Lasbella, Baluchistan, Pakistan. Further legal procedures, and probe into this international drug network are being undertaken by the Narcotics Control Bureau.