NCB-Navy-Gujarat ATS joint operation makes largest ever offshore drug seizure

The Indian Navy mobilised its mission-deployed maritime patrol aircraft and warship, following which the boat was intercepted early on Tuesday morning

Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Indian Navy apprehended a suspicious boat carrying 3,300 kg of contraband off the Gujarat coast, on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: Indian Navy-X

A joint operation of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the Indian Navy, and the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad, on Tuesday led to the seizure of about 3,300 kg of drugs from a dhow about 60 nautical miles off the coast in the Indian Ocean and the arrest of five foreign nationals with suspected Pakistan links. It is the largest ever offshore drug seizure in the country.

The contraband, including 3,110 kg of hashish, 158.30 kg of crystalline powder Methamphetamine, and 24.60 kg of suspected heroin, is estimated to worth about ₹1,200 crore. Preliminary findings indicate that it was being smuggled via Chabahar port in Iran.

Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Indian Navy apprehended a suspicious boat carrying 3,300 kg of contraband off the Gujarat coast, on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Congratulating the agencies through an X post, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said: “Pursuing PM @narendramodi Ji’s vision of a drug-free Bharat, our agencies today achieved the grand success of making the biggest offshore seizure of drugs in the nation...the historic success is a testament to our govt’s unwavering commitment to making our nation drug-free...”

NCB Director General S.N. Pradhan told the mediapersons that the operation codenamed ‘Sagar Manthan-I’ was one of the five such recent exercises undertaken in association with sister agencies like the Navy, Coast Guard, intelligence and other drug enforcement agencies agencies, and police of various States, made possible through the Centre’s initiative to set up the National Narcotics Coordination Portal in 2019.

Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Indian Navy apprehended a suspicious boat carrying 3,300 kg of contraband off the Gujarat coast, on Wednesday. Five foreign nationals, who were not carrying any identity documents, have been held. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Sharing the details, NCB Deputy Director-General (Ops) Gyaneshwar Singh the agency initially got a tip-off that a foreign unregistered fishing vessel would enter the Indian waters with over 3,000 kg of drugs. It was to deliver the contraband to a fishing boat suspected to be coming in from Tamil Nadu, around 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Tuesday, at a particular point.

Based on the tip-off, a joint team of the NCB Operations branch, Navy and the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad was constituted. The Navy mobilised its P-8I long range maritime patrol aircraft and mission-deployed warship, following which the boat was intercepted early on Tuesday morning. The vessel was towed to Gujarat’s Porbandar by the warship for further action.

“Five foreign nationals, who were not carrying any identity documents, have been held. One Thuraya [satellite phone] and four mobile phones, along with the boat carrying drugs has been seized. The drug packaging material bears the print ‘Ras Awad Foods Co, produce of Pakistan’,” said Mr. Singh.

The agency will be taking the help of its counterparts in other countries during the further investigation into the cartel behind the operation.

During the previous ‘Op Samudragupt’, a joint team of the NCB and the Navy had intercepted a “mothership”, detained a Pakistani national, and impounded about 2,500 kg of Meth in May 2023. Another consignment of 529 kg hashish, 221 kg Meth and 13 kg heroin, sourced from Baluchistan and Afghanistan, was seized off the coast of Gujarat in February, 2022. An Iranian boat was intercepted off the Kerala coast, 200 kg Afghan heroin seized, and six Iranians arrested in October 2022.

Based on NCB inputs. The agencies in Sri Lanka and Maldives had effected more seizures and arrested about two dozen accused persons.

There has been a significant surge of smuggling of contraband via sea. Smuggling of narcotics was among the top concerns flagged at the Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC) last October which brought together Navy and maritime chiefs of 12 countries. Information sharing for Maritime Domain Awareness has emerged as a major focus area among the Indian Ocean littoral states to counter such common threats on the high seas.

Terming the surge in illegal drug trafficking through sea routes as one of the “most dangerous and grave menace” to maritime security in the IOR, Anil Kumarsing Dip, Commissioner of Police of Mauritius had said at the GMC that inadequate information sharing among countries of the IOR impedes collaborative efforts against drug trafficking, and “legal barriers to sharing sensitive information further complicate counter-narcotics operations.”