Ship from Karachi enters Gujarat sea carrying 1,500 kg heroin worth Rs 3,500
- The Indian Coast Guard on Sunday, July 30, seized 1,500 kg of heroin
- Merchant ship ‘Henry’ was detected to be moving suspiciously in the Gulf of Khambat by ICG aircraft Dornier
- It was eventually intercepted and detained by ICG ship 'Samudra Pavak’
- The seized heroin is worth Rs 3,500 crore
FollowThe Indian Coast Guard on Sunday, July 30, seized 1,500 kg of heroin worth Rs 3,550 crore from a vessel off the Gujarat coastline.
The vessel was first spotted around 380km off Dwarka through surveillance mounted by the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), a government intelligence-gathering agency.
The vessel, merchant ship ‘Henry’ was detected to be moving suspiciously in the Gulf of Khambat by ICG aircraft Dornier and was eventually intercepted and detained by ICG ship 'Samudra Pavak’.
"During the initial inspection by the Coast Guard, approximately 1,500 kg of narcotics worth Rs 3,500 crore have been found on board. This is the biggest catch of narcotics in the present times," the coast guard said in a release on July 31.
The suspicious vessel, which was found to be registered in Panama, had eight crew members, all Indian, onboard and no cargo. It said it was headed to Bhavnagar for breaking at the Alang yard after being intercepted by the ICG ship in the Gulf of Khambat, which was denied by the Gujarat Maritime Board.
“The NTRO shared the intelligence about the suspect vessel on July 27 and the Coast Guard was notified. Intelligence suggested the crew was negotiating the mode of payment for the contraband and its intended destination,” said an official to Hindustan Times.
The ship also has a connection to Pakistan.
According to the sources, one of the crew is believed to be an Iran national and a relative of the owner of the ship. They are suspected to have got off at Karachi.
"The ship was parked at Karachi port for two days after it arrived from Dubai. It then left for Alang ship-breaking yard for dismantling. We suspect that the heroin was hidden in the vessel at Karachi itself," a coast guard official said.
The vessel was today taken to Porbandar, and crew members were detained for interrogation in the presence of intelligence agencies, police, customs, enforcement, narcotics, and the navy.
Sources in the narcotics bureau said the ship’s last port of call was Chabahar in Iran and it was probably carrying Afghan heroin for an Indian gang.
The development comes three days after the ICG was mobilised on an intelligence input that an Iranian vessel Prince-II, carrying a large amount of narcotics was likely to enter Bhavnagar (Gulf of Khambat) or Jamnagar (Gulf of Kutch) in disguise, the release said.
Following this, the ICG intercepted and detained two cargo ships Al-Amir and Noor-E-Shabir on July 28 for questioning after their movement was found to be suspicious.
#WATCH: ICG Ship apprehended Merchant Vessel carrying approx 1500 kgs of heroin valued at about ₹3500 crores off the coast of Gujarat.
— ANI (@ANI_news) July 30, 2017
