Gandhinagar: In a major breakthrough, the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Indian Coast Guard have arrested five Iranian nationals and recovered narcotic drugs worth more than Rs 425 crore from their possession, officials said. As per the officials, the arrests and the drug recovery was carried out late on Monday night.
The joint operation by the ATS and the Indian Coast Guard was launched following specific intelligence inputs over drug smuggling in the Indian waters. The joint team observed an Iranian boat fishing in the Arabian Sea a few hundred nautical miles off the Okha port under suspicious circumstances. The joint team of the ATS and the Indian Coast Guard chased the boat and detained the five Iranian nationals on board.
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On searching the boat, the joint team recovered 61 kg of narcotics. An official said that the market value of the narcotics is believed to be more than Rs 425 crore. Following the recovery of the narcotics, the ATS and Indian Coast Guard have taken the Irani nationals and the boat to Okha port for further investigation of the drugs and interrogation of the crew members.
In a joint operation with ATS Gujarat, Indian Coast Guard apprehended an Iranian Boat with 5 crew and 61 kgs of narcotics (worth Rs 425 cr) in Indian waters at Arabian Sea off Gujarat. Boat is being brought to Okha for further investigation, the Defence PRO of Gujarat said in a Tweet.
An official said that the operation was carried out by the Indian Coast Guard, ICGS Mirambhen and ICGS Abheek ships based on the intelligence inputs over the drug smuggling. The accused are being interrogated to unearth the chain of the drug smuggling in India. Significantly, in the last 18 months, Coast Guard and ATS have conducted joint operations and seized 407 kg of drugs with a market value of whopping Rs 2,355 crore.
