Biggest sea drug bust yet! Coast Guard seizes ₹1,800 cr worth of meth dumped in Arabian Sea

Ahmedabad: In a major anti-narcotics operation, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Indian Coast Guard have seized 300 kg of suspected methamphetamine worth ₹1,800 crore. The seizure was made after smugglers dumped the drugs into the Arabian Sea and fled across the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), officials said on Monday.

The joint operation was carried out on the night of April 12–13, based on intelligence input provided by the Gujarat ATS. A Coast Guard ship was diverted to a suspected area near the IMBL, where it spotted a suspicious boat.

Upon seeing the approaching Coast Guard ship, the smugglers, who were on a boat, dumped the contraband into the sea and fled across the IMBL, it said.

"In an overnight operation on April 12-13, the Indian Coast Guard undertook an intelligence-based anti-narcotics operation at sea jointly with the Gujarat ATS. More than 300 kg of narcotics, approximately valued at Rs 1,800 crore, have been seized. The seized drug is suspected to be methamphetamine," the release said.

Based on input from the Gujarat ATS, an ICG ship from the Coast Guard Region (West) was diverted to that area in the sea near IMBL, where a suspected boat's presence was detected, it said.

"The ICG ship identified a suspect boat despite pitch black night. On realising the approaching ship, the suspect boat dumped its narcotics consignment in the sea before it started fleeing towards the IMBL. The alert ICG ship deployed its sea boat immediately for recovery of the jettisoned consignment whilst commencing a hot chase of the suspect boat," it said.

The proximity of the international boundary line and the initial separation between the Coast Guard ship and the boat at the time of its detection helped the boat to evade interception before it crossed over the IMBL within a short time, said the release.

Later, the Coast Guard team, after a thorough search in the tough night conditions, recovered the narcotics which were dumped into the sea, it said.

"The seized narcotics have been brought to Porbandar by the ICG ship for further investigations," the release said.

The collaboration of the Coast Guard and the ATS, which has led to 13 such successful law enforcement operations in recent years, "reaffirms the synergy for national objectives," it added.

PTI inputs