Pakistan Boat with Drugs Worth Rs 300 crore Caught in Gujarat
During the early hours of 26th December, the ICG observed a Pakistani fishing boat, Al Soheli, moving suspiciously in Indian waters.
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) received intelligence input from the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Gujarat, that a Pakistani boat may enter India. On the intervening night of December 25 and 26, the ICG strategically deployed its fast patrol ship to patrol the area close to the notional International Maritime Border Line (IMBL). The name of the ICG ship was -'Arinjay'. During the early hours of Monday, the ICG observed a Pakistani fishing boat, Al Soheli, moving suspiciously in Indian waters.
When the Indian Coast Guard started questioning those aboard the Pakistani boat, the boat started evasive manoeuvring and did not stop even when the Indian Coast Guard fired warning shots. The ship of the Indian Coast Guard intercepted the Pakistani boat. The Indian Coast Guard boarded the Pakistani boat and found the crew behaving in a suspicious manner. The ICG searched the boat and found arms, ammunition and approximately 40 kgs of narcotics worth Rs 300 crores. Ten people aboard the Pakistani boat have been arrested. They are being brought to the coastal town of Okha in Gujarat for further investigation. This is the seventh joint operation by the Indian Coast Guard and ATS, Gujarat, in the last 18 months and first crackdown, wherein arms and ammunition, along with drugs, were being smuggled into the country. During this period, a total 346 kg of heroin worth Rs 1,930 crores have been seized and 44 Pakistani nationals and seven people from Iran have been arrested.
