Why do drug-laden Pakistani boats constantly turning up off the coast of Gujarat?

NEW DELHI: On Sunday, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) apprehended a Pakistani boat carrying around 86 kilograms of heroin valued at Rs 600 crore off the coast of Gujarat and detained its fourteen-person crew from the neighboring nation.

In less than two days, this was the second big operation against the drug mafia.

The other included the discovery of mephedrone worth Rs 230 crore in three labs—two in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, and one in Amreli, Rajasthan. Thirteen people were arrested as a result of the operations.

This explains why Pakistani boats loaded with drugs are often seen off the coast of Gujarat.

What
Off the coast of Gujarat, the Indian Coast Guard announced on Sunday that it had apprehended 14 people and seized 86 kg of heroin worth Rs 600 crore from a Pakistani boat.

It said that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the Gujarat Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS) worked together to coordinate the midnight operation in the Arabian Sea.

Not for the first instance
Six Pakistani nationals were arrested by the Indian Coast Guard in March off the coast of Porbandar, along with drugs valued at Rs 480 crores.

In February, the biggest drug seizure in recent memory took place when the Indian Navy and the NCB found 3,300 kg of cocaine on a vessel close to Porbandar.

In several instances, drugs were found with weapons and ammo.

The procedure
“On April 28, the Indian Coast Guard conducted an amazing counter-narcotics operation at sea using intelligence. 14 crew members and over 86 kilograms of drugs valued at Rs 600 crore were taken into custody from the Pakistani boat, the agency said in a statement.

What sort of drugs were found on the Pakistani yacht has not yet been made public by the Coast Guard.

It said that Coast Guard planes and ships were sent in for the operation, and that the suspicious boat was identified with the assistance of ATS and NCB personnel aboard the ICG ship Rajratan.

Citizens of Pakistan held
The Coast Guard claimed that the Pakistani boat and its 14-person crew had been captured and were being transported to Porbandar for more inquiries.

“The drug-laden boat’s evasive maneuvers were unable to rescue it from the quick and powerful ICG cruiser Rajratan. After conducting extensive inspections, the ship’s specialized crew boarded the suspicious vessel and verified the presence of a substantial quantity of drugs, the statement said.

The statement said, “The synergy for national objectives is reaffirmed by the jointness of ICG and ATS, which has led to eleven such successful law enforcement operations in the last three years.”