Drugs Worth INR2,000 Crore Confiscated From Another Vessel Off Indian Coast

Less than five months after India’s largest-ever drug haul off the coast of Gujarat (State on the west coast of India), about 750 kgs of contraband was seized by team members of India’s Narcotics Control Bureau. The cost of the contraband is estimated to be nearly Rs 2,000 crore.

The ship from which the contraband was seized seemed to be of foreign origin. The vessel had been sailing in the high seas close to Porbandar-Jamnagar. It had foreign crew members on board.

The NCB discovered 525 kgs of premium hashish and almost 234 kg of high-quality crystal Methamphetamine with some quantity of Heroin, which the officials have reported cost nothing less than Rs 2,000 crore in the international market.

800 kgs drugs — Image Credits: Narcotics Control Bureau of India

The raid, reported to be a first-of-its-kind in the high seas, was kickstarted by the NCB. Information from the bureau was shared with the Naval Intelligence Unit, preparing the joint operation.

A senior officer who does not want to be named informed that the boat had some inscriptions in ‘Urdu’. The intelligence reports that the illegal drugs were transported from Pakistan and were meant for delivery in India.

In another massive drug haul, the NCB reported on Saturday the arrest of 22 individuals, including financial analysts, software engineers, an MBA graduate, and one of their personnel. These individuals were operating a pan-India drug-trafficking channel that makes use of cryptocurrency and ‘dark net’ for couriering narcotics.

Gyaneshwar Singh, NCB’s DDG of North, said that recreational drugs were being sourced from countries like Poland, the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands via courier services and the India Post channel.

Reference: NCB

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