New Delhi: A boat carrying 80 Kg of drugs worth Rs 480 crore was seized and six Pakistani crew members onboard the vessel were apprehended in a joint operation of Gujarat ATS, the Indian Coast Guard, and the NCB, officials said.
The boat was apprehended about 350 Km from Porbandar into the Arabian Sea in a sea-air coordinated operation involving ICG ships and Dornier Aircraft.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in a statement said that in an overnight joint operation on March 11-12, the Indian Coast Guard apprehended a Pakistani Boat with 6 crew onboard and around 80 Kg of drugs worth approx Rs 480 crore.
Based on a tip-off, the Indian Coast Guard, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), and Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) conducted a joint operation in the Arabian Sea near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), said Sunil Joshi, superintendent of police, ATS, reported PTI.
The type of drug and its value are yet to be ascertained as the boat is being brought to the shore, he said, as per the report.
According to news agency PTI, this is the second major anti-narcotics operation carried out by the agencies in the Arabian Sea in one month. On February 26, five foreign nationals were held off the Porbandar coast with 3,300 kg of narcotics, including charas.
"This is the tenth apprehension by ICG, jointly with ATS Gujarat and NCB, in last three years, amounting to 517 kg Narcotics worth Rs 3,135 crores," the NCB said in a statement.
"The operation exhibited well-coordinated efforts between ICG, NCB, and ATS Gujrat," NCB added.