Gandhinagar: The Gujarat police have confiscated drugs worth Rs 5,956 crore and apprehended 48 foreign nationals involved in drug trafficking during the last two years, the state government informed in the assembly on Wednesday.
Amid a fiery debate in the assembly regarding the drug issue, Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghavi, urged the opposition Congress to refrain from politicising the issue.
The minister also questioned the intentions of the Congress party, particularly focusing on their mention of the Adani Group-run Mundra port in Kutch. This reference pertained to the incident in 2021 when central agencies seized 3,000 kilograms of heroin valued at Rs 20,000 crore from two containers imported from Afghanistan.
During the question hour, Congress MLA Geniben Thakor inquired whether the state government intends to arrest individuals involved in the operations at the Mundra port following the significant drug seizure in 2021.
In response, Sanghavi said Mundra is not the only port from where the Gujarat police have seized drugs.
He was referring to the seizure of Rs 200 crore worth of heroin by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) from a container at the Kolkata port in West Bengal in 2022.
"The Adani-run Mundra port is the only port from where Gujarat police had seized drugs. We should not politicise the issue of drugs. Why did you mention only Adani port? Why did you not mention about the seizure of drugs by the ATS from West Bengal where your party is having an alliance," Sanghavi said without elaborating.
1,513 kg of drugs valued at Rs 5,956 crore seized
Sanghavi proceeded to inform the assembly that the Gujarat police seized nearly 1,513 kg of drugs valued at Rs 5,956 crore from the state during the last two years. This included the seizure of 205.6 kg of heroin, valued at Rs 1,028 crore, from a location near Kandla port, and 90 kg of heroin worth Rs 450 crore from Pipavav port.
"Moreover, joint teams of the Gujarat ATS and central agencies foiled the attempts of drug dealers to smuggle drugs in the state through the sea route and seized 858 kg of drugs valued at Rs 4,478 crore during the last two years. Along with Indians, we had also arrested 38 Pakistanis, five Iranians, three Afghan nationals and two Nigerians involved in the illicit trade," Sanghavi said.
He stated that the state government is treating this issue seriously, as evidenced by the high conviction rate. The minister informed the assembly that many of the arrested individuals received severe punishments, including life imprisonment, from courts in four drug seizure cases.
Sanghavi highlighted that Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, responsible for the home portfolio, personally chairs review meetings every three months to assess the police's readiness to dismantle drug networks and the measures taken by authorities to build strong cases against the accused.
(With PTI inputs)
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