Acting on Intelligence alerts, the Coast Guard and the Navy confiscated a suspected Pakistani boat carrying eight Pakistani nationals off the Porbandar coast in Gujarat and seized a huge cache of narcotics.
The joint operation, which began on Saturday, culminated in the early hours of Monday. The security forces recovered 232 packets of narcotics, suspected to be heroin estimated at Rs. 600 crore in the international markets. Additionally, they confiscated satellite phones and Global Positioning System sets, used to facilitate transhipment of the contraband to another boat.
Ships, planes joined search“Multiple units from the Navy and the Coast Guard were deployed for the operation, which included Naval ships Nirghat and Kondul , along with Coast Guard ship Sangram . The agencies undertook extensive aerial searches, deploying Dorniers and patrol aircraft IL38 and P8Is,” an official press release said.
The boat was brought to Porbandar for investigations.
The intelligence inputs said a second boat was supposed to receive the contraband, but was not sighted, Kuldip Singh Sheoran, Commander, Coast Guard Region (North-West), told The Hindu .
“Where the second boat was supposed to come from and its origin are a matter of investigation,” Mr. Sheoran said.
The seizure comes close on the heels of another incident involving a Pakistani boat, whose occupants allegedly blew it up along with them in January. Two such incidents in three months once again underscore the vulnerability of the 1,600-km Gujarat coastline.
“The security is always tight on the coast. At any given point of time, three ships and two aircraft are on patrol,” Mr. Sheoran said.
Monday’s incident comes days after the Gujarat Police and Defence and intelligence agencies undertook a two-day joint drill, “Sagar Kavach 2015”, to assess their level of coordination and preparedness for protecting the long coastline.
