Around 2,500 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine estimated to be worth around Rs 12,000 crores was seized from a large vessel near the coast of Kerala in a joint operation by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Indian Navy, the agency informed on Saturday.
Along with the bust, a Pakistani national was detained after the vessel was intercepted in Indian waters in the Indian Ocean, a statement from the NCB said. Officials of the anti-narcotics body said that the seized drugs along with the suspect were brought to the Mattancherry Wharf in Cochin on Saturday, adding that the agency has begun a probe to identify the receives of the consignment.
Meanwhile, the agency has termed it the largest seizure of methamphetamine in the country, with officials saying that the drug was seized from a “mother ship”. According to the Narcotics Control Bureau, a mother ship is a large vessel carrying huge quantities of drugs for distribution to receiving boats along the route.
The source of the drug was the “Golden Crescent”, the region in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran which is one of the two prominent areas known for illicit opium production, and most of the contraband smuggled into India comes from these three countries, the statement mentioned.
The agency further said that while working with the navy’s intelligence wing, officials intercepted an input about a “mother ship” carrying a large quantity of methamphetamine from the Makran coast around Pakistan and Iran.
An NCB spokesperson said, “Continuous intelligence collection and analysis resulted in the identification of a highly probable route that the mother ship would take for distribution of contraband. Accordingly, these details were shared with Indian Navy and a naval ship was deployed in the vicinity.”
“A large vessel was intercepted by the navy and 134 sacks of suspected methamphetamine were recovered from the ship,” the spokesperson added.
The Pakistani national tried to flee on a speed boat after the vessel was intercepted; however, Indian Navy officials intercepted it, said NCB officials, adding that they are questioning the suspect. The drugs were concealed in rice bags, purportedly of a Pakistan-based rice company.
The deputy director general of operations at NCB, Sanjay Kumar Singh said that the case was busted as a part of Operation Samudragupt, launched by the agency in January 2022.
Singh said, “The primary objective of the operation was to collect actionable inputs which could lead to interception of ships carrying narcotics contraband. For this task, the team exchanged and gathered information from drug law enforcement agencies such as DRI, ATS Gujarat etc. and intelligence agencies such as Intelligence Wing of Indian Navy, NTRO.”
The NCB has in the past recovered drugs from the coast of Gujarat in February 2022 under the operation, and another one in October 2022. In both the cases, officials found the source of the drugs to be in Afghanistan and Baluchistan.
NCB has recovered around 3,200 kilograms of methamphetamine, 500 kilograms of heroin and 529 kilograms of hashish so far, as a part of this operation. The NCB has also shared its intelligence with the Sri Lankan navy and Maldives police which helped the two countries seize 286 kilograms of heroin and 128 kilograms of methamphetamine in March this year.
