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Pakistani boat with narcotics worth $200 million captured off Gujarat coast
"Two fast attack boats of ICG caught a Pakistani boat 33 nautical miles off the Jakhau Coast in Gujarat," said the officials.
Kutch: On Wednesday, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) collaborated to intercept the Pakistani boat Al Tayyasa, which had six crew members and was carrying about 40 kilos of heroin worth Rs 200 crore.
According to an official statement by Defence PRO Gandhinagar, the Indian Coast Guard strategically deployed two fast interceptor class ships, C-408 and C-454, for patrolling in areas near the fictitious International Maritime Border Line (IMBL) during the intervening night of September 13–14 on the basis of a special intelligence input.
The press release stated that a Pakistani boat was seen moving suspiciously in Indian waters at midnight, 5 nautical miles inside the notional IMBL and 40 nautical miles from Jakhau. It went on to say that the boat over boarded a shipment and began evasive manoeuvring; as a result, one of the two ICG ships skillfully recovered the shipment, which was later determined to be a shipment of drugs.
Upon visual inspection, the substance is thought to be heroin, weighing about 40 kg and having a market value of Rs 200 crore. The boat was manoeuvred and stopped by the second ICG ship, which was battling extremely heavy waves in poor weather and pitch-black night.
The Pakistani boat was discovered 6 kilometres inside Indian waters, according to representatives of the Indian Coast Guard. “Two fast attack boats of ICG caught a Pakistani boat 33 nautical miles off the Jakhau Coast in Gujarat,” said the officials.
Notably, the six crew members were questioned and the Pakistani boat was transported to Jakhau for further joint investigation by the agencies.
According to the statement, this is the seventh collaborative operation between the Indian Coast Guard and ATS, Gujarat in the past year, and it has further demonstrated the value of excellent coordination among stakeholders for a strong coastal security network.
