Drugs seized in Indian waters worth Rs 25,000 crore, confirms NCB

KOCHI: The value of drugs seized in a special operation by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Indian Navy in Indian waters on Saturday was priced at Rs 25,000 crores after enumeration, informed NCB on Monday.

According to the NCB officials, the enumeration of the high-purity methamphetamine seized by NCB and the Indian Navy has been completed. The total seizure has been confirmed as 2,525 kg and it is valued at 25,000 crore rupees, as per the official information received from the NCB. The officials further informed that the enumeration was completed in 23 hours. “The value became higher because it is higher grade methamphetamine. The seized drugs were in 134 sacks. The methamphetamine was kept in packets of one kilo each”, one of the officials said.

One suspected Pakistani national was already arrested in this regard. He will be produced before the Court today evening, informed the NCB officials.

On Saturday, NCB seized approximately 2,500 kg of contraband drugs in Indian waters in a special operation.

Sanjay Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General (Ops) said it was the largest in terms of monetary value.

Talking to ANI, Singh said, “NCB & Navy conducted a successful operation in the Indian Ocean. It is the largest in terms of its monetary value. It originated from the Chabahar port in Iran. The source of the drugs is Pakistan.”

Singh further said that the consignment was meant for Sri Lanka, Maldives and India.

“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 and India. One Pakistani national has been arrested”, he said.

He added that the operation was started in February last year and as part of the operation, the team has seized roughly around 4,000 kg of various drugs.

“We started Operation Samudragupta in February 2022 as part of that operation we have seized roughly around 4,000 kg of various drugs”, Singh said.

The initial success of the operation called ‘Samudragupta’ was achieved in the month of February 2022 when a joint team of NCB and Indian Navy seized 529 kg of Hashish, 221 kg of Methamphetamine and 13 kg of Heroin in the high seas off the coast of Gujarat, all sourced from Balochistan and Afghanistan. The seizure part of ‘Operation Samudragupta’ targeted the maritime trafficking of drugs originating from Afghanistan.

Appreciating the threat to national security emanating from maritime trafficking of Heroin and other drugs over the maritime route in the Indian Ocean region, the Director General, NCB launched Operation Samudragupta headed by Sanjay Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General (Ops), NCB and comprising officers of Operations Branch of NCB Headquarters in January 2022.

The primary objective of the operation was to collect actionable inputs which could lead to the interdiction of ships carrying narcotics contraband. For this task, the team exchanged and gathered information from drug law enforcement agencies such as DRI, ATS Gujarat and intelligence agencies such as the Intelligence Wing of Indian Navy, NTRO etc. (ANI)

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