700 kg drugs worth ₹ 5 crore caught in Gujarat's Porbandar, 8 Iranian suspects arrested

In a major drugs bust, a boat carrying over 700 kg of methamphetamine, simply known as meth, has been caught off Gujarat's Porbandar after an overnight mid-sea operation. Eight persons on board the vessel who claimed to be Iranians have been arrested, officials said on Nov 15.

They are being questioned to find out the source of the drugs and where such a big consignment was headed, officials were quoted as saying. The drug is suspected to be worth around ₹ 5 crore.

The seizures were made as part of Operation Sagar Manthan a joint operation by the officials from the Gujarat Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) and the federal anti-drugs agency Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

The boat came under the radar near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) - which separates the international waters, after which it was brought to Porbandar.

Further searches are on for suspected vessels and more inbound consignments of drugs as officials keep an eye on the sea routes for smuggling of narcotics.

Officials were quoted as saying the suspects are being questioned to find out details about the drug consignment.

“It's also under investigation if Pakistan was the source of the drugs.” An official said.

Several reports have accused Pakistan of pushing drugs across the border to fund their terror activities.

Gujarat witnessed a major drug bust three weeks ago with narcotics substances worth over ₹ 250 crore being seized from the Avsar Enterprise in Ankleshwar, Bharuch district.

Pertinently a similar operation in the past had led to the seizure of drugs worth ₹ 5,000 crore from the Aavkar Drugs Limited in Ankleshwar.