In the intervening night of 11th and 12th March, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) apprehended a Pakistani boat with six crew, and seized narcotics worth Rs 480 crore or approximately $60 million. The boat was apprehended about 350 km off Porbandar, Gujarat in Western India, along the sea lane that leads to Pakistan.
The operation that involved vessels and Dornier maritime patrol aircraft of the Coast Guard, is a result of the synergy between the Indian Coast Guard, Narcotics Control Bureau and Gujarat Anti-Terror Squad.
According to the ICG, based on intelligence input, its assets were strategically positioned in the Arabian sea on 11th March, Monday, and they had also deployed a Dornier plane to scan and locate a suspicious vessel.
After an extensive search, the ICG with teams of the NCB and ATS Gujarat, spotted the suspected boat and observed that it was performing evasive manoeuvres, which ensued in ICG vessels chasing it and ICG teams boarding and examining the target vessel.
The Visit-Board-Search-Seize(VBSS) operation led to the seizure of 80 kg of drugs from the Pakistani vessel with six crew members.
The apprehended boat along with its crew are being brought to Porbandar, Gujarat, for further investigation. According to the Indian agencies, this is the tenth apprehension by ICG, ATS Gujarat and NCB, in the last three years, during which they have seized 517kg narcotics worth Rs 3,135crores or $391 million.
