As many as eight Pakistani nationals and a boat which was intercepted and apprehended by Indian Coast Guards on Monday near International Maritime Boundary line (IMBl) off Gujarat coast were brought to Porbandar on Tuesday. Officials however ruled out any terror link in case.
“It was a three-day elaborate operation jointly conducted by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard chasing a Pakistani boat 250 nautical miles off the Gujarat coast. We found 232 packets of narcotics suspected to be heroin, satellite phones, global positioning systems (GPS) and six cell phones from the boat,” said a senior coast guards official.
The value of the narcotics seized from the crew members of Pakistani boats is worth Rs600 crore in the international market, said the official, adding that each packet weighs around one kg. During the interrogation, the official found that the satellite phones and GPS were used to facilitate transshipment of the narcotics to another boat.
Following the intelligence input, the joint operation was launched on Saturday in coordination with Western Naval Command Headquarters and the Regional Headquarters (North-West) of the Coast Guard. The elaborate operation was carried out with multiple units from the Navy and Coast Guard — including Navy ships Nirghat and Kondul and Coast Guards’ ICGS Sangram. The search operation was conducted with the help of extensive aerial searches by Naval and Coast Guard aircraft, including Dorniers Il38 and P8Is.
“The suspect boat was intercepted by ICGS Sangram in the wee hours of Monday and was apprehended later. Navy ship Kondul provided support to the entire operation,” said the Coast Guard official.
Though the officials ruled out any terror link in this particular case, the destination of the contraband and location of the other alleged Pakistani boat that crew was trying to touch base with is yet to be found out. The crew members of the apprehended boat brought to Porbandar are being interrogated by the authority concerned and it is expected to get some clue about the drug trafficking from the neighboring country, said the source.
It is pertinent to mention here that on December 31, 2014, a Pakistani fishing trawler was blown by its crew members after it was intercepted by Indian Coast Guards off Gujarat coast. Interestingly, the vessel seized on Monday was also intercepted at almost the same location.