Kerala: In a major raid, NCB, Indian Navy and Coast Guards seized around 2500kg high-purity Methamphetamine sourced from Death Crescent valued at around Rs 15000 Cr in the Indian waters on Saturday. The raid was conducted with the help of Marin Comandos and is considered to be the biggest consignment of contraband substances. Taking note of the massive seizure, top officials informed that they are waiting for the exact market value which can soar up to Rs 15,000 cr.
One suspected Pakistani national was detained in the joint operation conducted by NCB along with Indian Navy and Coast Guards. The seizure was a part of Operation Samudragupt targeting maritime trafficking of drugs originating from Afghanistan. As per the officials, the name of Haji Dawood and Sons was mentioned on the packages.
"This is the 3rd major seizure effected by NCB w.r.t. Maritime trafficking through southern route in the last one and half years. Total of approximately 3200 kg of Methamphetamine, 500kg of Heroin and 529 kg of Hashish seized in the Operation so far. Apart from NCB operations, inputs were shared with Sri Lanka & Maldives which resulted in seizures. India’s leadership in the maritime security of the region. The largest seizure of methamphetamine in the country," reads the press release of the NCB.
Sanjay Kumar Singh, OPS, Deputy Director General on the biggest drug haul said. "NCB & Navy conducted a successful operation in the Indian Ocean. It is the largest in terms of its monetary value. The monetary value is approx Rs 15,000 crore. It originated from the Chabahar port in Iran. The source of the drugs is Pakistan. The mother ship was being stationed at different points in the sea. The smaller boats would go from various countries & collect consignments from the mother ships. The consignment was meant for Sri Lanka, Maldives & India. One Pakistani national has been arrested. We started Operation Samudragupta in Feb 2022 as part of that operation we have seized roughly around 4,000 kg of various drugs."
As per the press release of NCB, "Inputs were shared with Indian Navy and an Indian Naval Ship was deployed in the vicinity. Based on this input, a large sea-going vessel was intercepted by the Navy. 134 sacks of suspected Methamphetamine was recovered from the ship and an Iranian national was also detained. The intercepted speedboat was occupied by one person who is suspected to be a Pakistani national. The recovered sacks, Pakistani national, the intercepted boat and some other items salvaged from the mother ship were brought to Mattancherry Wharf, Cochin on 13/05/2023 and handed over to NCB for further action."
"NCB has initiated the seizure procedures and the primary analysis is that all of the packets contain Methamphetamine. As the seizure procedures are still underway, the exact quantity of Methamphetamine recovered is not clear yet. However, from the number of packets recovered, we estimate it to be around 2500kg in a conservative estimate," it read further.
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