More than 500 kg of drugs were seized in the sea of Porbandar in Gujarat on Friday after a joint operation was launched by Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the sea. The drugs were reportedly being brought in an Iranian boat.
The operation was launched in the middle of the sea on Thursday night, news agency ANI reported. The NCB carried out the operation in collaboration with the Navy and Gujarat ATS.
In a separate incident on Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the NCB confiscated 82.53 kg of high-grade cocaine in New Delhi. "The massive drug consignment worth approximately ₹900 crore was tracked down by a bottom-to-top approach after a quantity of drugs was seized in a courier center in Delhi. Our hunt against drug rackets will continue ruthlessly," Shah said.
The home minister lauded the "back-to-back major breakthroughs against illegal drugs in a single day." He said the achievement demonstrates “the Modi government's unwavering resolve to build a drug-free Bharat.”
In late October, police seized MD contraband valued at ₹14 lakh and other suspected drugs of 427 kg from a factory in Ankleshwar industrial area in Gujarat's Bharuch district and arrested one person in this connection, an official said Monday. A person was arrested so far in this connection, and further investigation is underway, an official told news agency PTI.
The suspected materials, seized from the 'Avasar Enterprise' located in Ankleshwar GIDC area, have been sent to a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for confirmation, Special Operations Group (SOG) police inspector Anand Chaudhary said.
"In the raids, conducted jointly by the district SOG and Surat police on Sunday night, 141 gm of methamphetamine (MD) drug valued at ₹14.10 lakh was also seized from the factory, he said.
Before this, more than 500 kg of cocaine valued at ₹5,000 crore was seized from Avkar Drugs Limited factory in Ankleshwar in a joint operation carried out by the Gujarat and Delhi police on October 13. This contraband was seized weeks after the Delhi Police raided a warehouse in the national capital and seized a consignment of 562 kilogram cocaine and 40 kg of hydroponic marijuana.
On October 10, an additional 208 kg of cocaine was recovered from a shop at Ramesh Nagar in Delhi. The investigation suggested the contraband belonged to a company named Pharma Solution Services, and it came from Avkar Drugs Limited Company of Ankleshwar, Gujarat, the police had said.
(With inputs from agencies)
