Zubair Derakhshandeh, the accused arrested in connection with the seizure of 2,500 kg of methamphetamine from a mother ship in the Indian waters last week, was remanded in judicial custody by the First Class Magistrate Court, Mattancherry, on Monday. The accused, suspected to be of Pakistani origin, was detained during the seizure, claimed to be the biggest drug haul by any enforcement agency in the country in terms of monetary value, carried out jointly by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Indian Navy. The drive was conducted as part of Operation Samudragupta launched in January last year with the aim of making Indian Ocean region narcotics-free. The NCB is likely to seek the custody of the accused in the coming days for further investigation as the enforcement agency is looking to find more leads.
The NCB has already confirmed that the boat has originated from Iran–Pakistan belt and that the consignment was meant for destinations including Sri Lanka and Maldives other than India. The agency also suspects whether the drug was intended for metro cities in India like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai and Kochi. This aspect would also be probed along with the likely involvement of Indians in the smuggling network and local links to the smugglers.
Reportedly, the NCB also had information about more vessels smuggling drugs but their whereabouts remain unknown. According to NCB sources, the mother ship found with the drugs had almost sunk by the time the Indian Navy approached it and those aboard had fled by a speed boat. However, it remains unclear how the ship sank.
