Gujarat ATS, Coast Guard seize 203kg drugs from Iranian boat near Porbandar; 2 arrested

AHMEDABAD: In a joint anti-narcotics operation, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) intercepted an Iranian speed boat carrying 203 kg of a suspected chemical substance in Indian waters near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), around 140 nautical miles off the Porbandar coast.However, the exact type of the substance is still unknown, officers said.

According to an official statement from the ATS, Superintendent of Police KK Patel, ATS Gujarat, received specific intelligence that an Iranian drug smuggler, Haji Fida, had dispatched a consignment of nearly 200 kg of suspected contraband from Konarak Port, Iran. The intelligence suggested that the consignment would reach Indian waters between 15 and 16 February and would be handed over mid-sea to an Indian vessel for further transport to Punjab.Based on the input, an operation was planned, and a team was deployed to Porbandar. The intelligence was shared with the Coast Guard, leading to a coordinated operation at sea.

On Monday at around 8 pm, an ICG ship from the Coast Guard Region (North West), on multi-mission deployment, was diverted to intercept a suspicious foreign boat near the IMBL. Despite low visibility, the vessel was located using technical and human surveillance.

On noticing the approaching Coast Guard ship, the speed boat attempted to flee towards the notional IMBL but was chased and intercepted within Indian waters.Two Iranian nationals on board were apprehended. They were identified as Abdul Majid Ismail and Abdul Sattar Kadarbaksh, both residents of Chabahar, Iran. A search of the vessel led to the recovery of 203 packets, each weighing about 1 kg, containing a crystalline substance suspected to be a drug.A senior ATS officer said the exact nature of the substance is yet to be determined. “This is not heroin, methamphetamine or mephedrone. We have field testing kits which ruled out these three substances. The samples have been sent for forensic examination to ascertain the exact composition,” the officer said.ATS officers added that the consignment was meant for delivery in Punjab and that a local man in Gujarat was to receive the parcels mid-sea and arrange their onward transport. The boat, the accused, and the seized substance were brought to the Porbandar Coast Guard station. Further legal proceedings are under way.