How Gujarat ATS and a Punjab cop made a drug haul worth Rs 376.5 crore in Mundra
The Gujarat ATS team and a Punjab police sub-inspector travelled to Mundra and spotted the suspected container at a Container Freight Station near the port. The container began its journey from the Ajman Free Zone in the UAE. It arrived at the Mundra port on May 13.
FollowHeroin estimated to be worth Rs 376.5 crore in the international market has been seized by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad from a container near the Mundra port in the Kutch district. The 75.3 kg contraband of high purity, hidden inside fabric rolls, was shipped from the United Arab EmiratesÂ
Gujarat Director General of Police Ashish Bhatia said that the Punjab police had recently given a tip-off to the Gujarat ATS about a shipping container containing drugs meant to be delivered in Punjab. According to the Punjab Police tip-off, the container arrived at the Mundra port about two and half months ago.
The Gujarat ATS team and a Punjab police sub-inspector travelled to Mundra and spotted the suspected container at a Container Freight Station near the port. The container began its journey from the Ajman Free Zone in the UAE. It arrived at the Mundra port on May 13.
Upon inspection, the team found 540 fabric rolls in the container, of which 64 had heroin powder. The drug dealers had tried to avoid scrutiny by creating a cavity by inserting a larger diameter plastic pipe over long cylindrical pipes made of cardboard. The cavity was filled with heroin and then tightly sealed using carbon tapes to avoid X-ray check.
The container was sent by a UAE-based firm named Green Forest General Trading and received by Jovial Container Lines -- a West Bengal-based delivery agent with an office at Gandhidham in Kutch.
Drugs and Gujarat Ports
In recent months, drugs worth crores of rupees have been seized by various central and state agencies from shipping containers arriving at Gujarat ports from other countries.
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In September 2021, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seized nearly 3,000 kg of heroin worth about Rs 21,000 crore from two containers that originated in Afghanistan. The DRI seized 56 kg of cocaine in May this year worth around Rs 500 crore and in April, it seized 205.6 kg of heroin worth Rs 1,439 crore. The Gujarat ATS and DRI recovered nearly 90 kg of heroin worth Rs 450 crore in a joint operation from a shipping container which arrived from Iran at the Pipavav port in Amreli district.Â
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