Coast Guard intercepts dhow, cigarettes worth `1 crore seized

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) personnel intercepted a dhow in the Gulf of Kutch off Gujarat coast and seized a stock of foreign cigarettes worth `1 crore. The dhow was damaged and water was leaking inside, so it was escorted to Salaya harbour.“Nine sailors onboard the dhow cruise named MSV Safina Al Meraj were taken to Salaya harbor in Jamnagar district. All the detained are Indian nationals. ICG also recovered two satellite phones from the dhow,” said Coast Guard IG (North-West) Kuldeep Singh Sheoran.

According to Sheron, ICG personnel found two cartons of ‘David Off’. “Each cartoon containing ten thousand cigarettes. Besides 50 cartons of Gudang Gadam were also found with 14,00 cigarettes in each carton,” he added.The search of the dhow was still on with officers of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and other agencies taking part.