On Sunday, India's Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested a group of Pakistani nationals, off the coast of Gujarat. The individuals were found in possession of 86 kilograms of illegal drugs valued at Rs 602 crore ($72 million).

During the operation, the Pakistani nationals attempted to escape arrest by trying to run their boat over ATS officials and even fired shots in retaliation. However, they were eventually apprehended by the authorities.

"In a breathtaking overnight operation, the Indian Coast Guard undertook an intelligence-based anti-narcotics operation at sea. Approx 86 kg of narcotics worth ₹ 600 crore has been apprehended along with 14 crew from the Pakistani boat," the Coast Guard said in a press release.

A senior official from the Gujarat ATS stated that they received intelligence indicating that Pakistani drug lord Haji Aslam, also known as Babu Baloch, was attempting to smuggle mephedrone drugs from Karachi port using the fishing trawler 'Al-Raza' between the night of April 25 and the early morning of April 26. The trawler was expected to approach closer to India's International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) off the Porbandar coast.

The drugs were planned to be transported to Tamil Nadu using an Indian boat, with the final destination being a drug lord in Sri Lanka. The Pakistani boat, identified by the call sign 'Ali' via onboard radio, coordinated with an Indian boat assigned the password 'Haider' for the drug delivery, as per officials.

In the early morning of April 26, a team consisting of the Gujarat ATS and the Indian Coast Guard reached a location approximately 180 nautical miles from Porbandar towards the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), where they spotted a suspicious boat.

 “The crew members of the boat started disposing some of the drug packets in the sea on seeing the Indian security forces. They attempted to ram the Indian security officials’ vessel with their fishing boat,” according to officials.

“In response, the operations team fired, injuring one Pakistani crew member. The Indian officials soon boarded the Pakistani vessel and arrested the 14 crew members along with 78 packets of drugs, which contained about 86 kilograms of contraband worth around ₹602 crore,” officials added.

According to officials, the consignment was meant to be delivered to some unidentified handlers in Tamil Nadu, from where it was to be smuggled to Sri Lanka for final delivery.

Gujarat Director-General of Police Vikas Sahai said the case has been handed over to NCB for further investigation.

Meanwhile, the ICG in a release described the operation “as an epitome of inter-agency coordination” among ICG, ATS and NCB.

It said that a ship and aircraft of ICG were deployed on the concurrent mission. ICG ship Rajratan, which had NCB and ATS officials, identified the suspected Pakistani boat. It said that it was the eleventh such operation jointly conducted by different agencies in the past three years.

Image source: The Hindu