NCB and Navy seize drugs worth Rs 2,000 crore in joint operation off Gujarat coast

New Delhi, February 12, 2022

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the Indian Navy seized about 800 kg of drugs, worth around Rs 2,000 crore in the international market, in a joint operation from a vessel in the Arabian Sea, off the Gujarat coast.

The seized drugs included around 529 kg of very high quality of hashish, 234 kg of fine quality of crystal methamphetamine and some quantity of heroin, official sources said.

They said this was the first such operation in which a seizure was made in the high seas.

The input regarding trafficking of drugs in the high seas was received and developed by NCB officials and was shared with the Naval Intelligence Unit, leading to the joint operation.

"The Special Unit of NCB Headquarters has been continuously working on various such intelligence inputs and it will be our endeavour to carry out more such operations in collaboration with Naval forces. The present seizure has dealt a telling blow to drug syndicates based out of our neighbouring country and using maritime route for proliferation of drugs in India and other countries," the NCB said.

IANS adds:

While the drugs are suspected to have been loaded from Pakistan, the NCB is investigating its delivery contacts.

The seized narcotics have been brought to the Porbandar port in Gujarat and the agency is conducting further formalities and probe, sources added.

"The seizure of almost 800 kg of contraband drugs came after a four-day operation that the agency conducted in collaboration with the Navy in the high seas," NCB Director General S. N. Pradhan said in a statement.

"The neighbouring country has adversarial relations with us and wants to affect India and its national security. I can tell you that this joint action by the Indian agencies and the NCB will continue," Pradhan said.

NNN