This is the largest seizure of methamphetamine in the country.
In one of the biggest Methamphetamine seizures ever, the Narcotics Control Bureau has revealed informed that it has recovered 2500 kg of drugs valued at Rs 15000 crore from a ship off India's western coast in a joint operation with the Indian Navy.
Following a tip-off as part of Operation Samudragupt, the NCB launched a joint operation in coordination with the Intelligence Wing of the Indian Navy, intelligence about the movement of a 'Mother Ship' carrying a huge quantity of Methamphetamine from Makran coast was generated (Mother Ships are large sea-going vessels carrying large quantities of narcotic contrabands for distribution to receiving vessels over the route).
In a statement, the NCB said that assets were mobilized and a close watch over the input was maintained by the team. The continuous intelligence collection and analysis resulted in the identification of a highly probable route that the mother ship would take for the distribution of contraband.
Accordingly, these details were shared with Indian Navy and an Indian Naval Ship was deployed in the vicinity. Based on this input, a large sea-going vessel was intercepted by the Navy. A total of 134 sacks of suspected Methamphetamine were recovered from the ship and an Iranian national was also detained.
The intercepted speedboat was occupied by one person who is suspected to be a Pakistani national. The recovered sacks, Pakistani national, the intercepted boat and some other items salvaged from the mother ship were brought to Mattancherry Wharf, Cochin on May 13 and handed over to NCB for further action.
The exact quantity of Methamphetamine recovered is not clear yet. However, from the number of packets recovered, the NCB believes that the quantity may be around 2500 kg in a conservative estimate.
The primary objective of Operation Samudragupt is to collect actionable inputs which could lead to the interdiction of ships carrying narcotics contraband. For this task, the team exchanged and gathered information from drug law enforcement agencies such as DRI, ATS Gujarat etc. and intelligence agencies such as the Intelligence Wing of the Indian Navy, NTRO etc.
