Five Pak nationals held with Rs 175 crore drugs off Gujarat coast
Ahmedabad: Five Pakistani nationals on board a fishing boat were apprehended mid-sea off Gujarat coast on Monday morning when they were allegedly trying to smuggle drugs worth Rs 175 crore into the state, security agencies said.
As many as 35 packets of heroin, each weighing one kg, were seized from the five men near Jakhau coast in Kutch district, located around 440 km from here, the Indian Coast Guard said in a release.
The seized contraband is worth Rs 175 crore in the international market, it said.
The early morning operation in the Arabian Sea near Jakhau was carried out by teams of the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad and the Indian Coast Guard after the ATS received inputs about a possible smuggling attempt.
"The information further revealed that the consignment was being sent in a Pakistani fishing boat from Pakistan. ATS officials approached the Coast Guard and a joint operation was launched to apprehend the smugglers," the release said.
A team of ATS and Coast Guard started the operation with fast interceptor boats at Jakhau.
A suspicious boat of Pakistani origin was eventually located during search operation off Jakhau coast, the Coast Guard said, adding that 35 packets of heroin were found on it.
"The approximate weight of the confiscated contraband is 35 kg, valuing Rs 175 crore in the international market. The apprehended persons are being interrogated jointly by all agencies," it said.
The apprehended Pakistani men have been identified as Anees Isa Bhatti (30), Ismail Mohammed Kachchi (50), Ashhraf Usman Kutchhi (42), Kareem Abdulla Kutchhi (37) andAbubaqar Ashraf Sumra (55), all residents of Karachi, it added.
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West Asia war: Vessel carrying 20,000 tonnes of LPG reaches Gujarat crossing Strait of Hormuz
Kandla (Gujarat) (PTI): A vessel carrying 20,000 metric tonnes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) arrived at Deendayal Port Authority in Kandla in Gujarat after crossing the Strait of Hormuz amid the West Asia crisis, officials said on Sunday.
The Marshall Islands-flagged MV SYMI started its journey from Qatar and docked at the port in Kandla around 11.30 pm on Saturday after crossing the Strait of Hormuz on May 13, they added.
Since early March, 13 India-flagged vessels, comprising 12 LPG tankers and one crude oil tanker, have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway close to the coast of Oman through which roughly one-fifth of the world's energy supplies pass.
It has been severely disrupted by the conflict in West Asia that started on February 28, with the US and Israel launching joint attacks on Iran, triggering retaliatory strikes. It has resulted in one of the worst energy crisis the world has seen in recent decades.
Incidentally, at a special meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNECOSOC) on safeguarding energy and supply flows, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Parvathaneni Harish said targeting commercial shipping, endangering civilian crew and impeding freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is "unacceptable".
On May 13, an India-flagged commercial vessel came under attack off the coast of Oman.
Omani authorities rescued all 14 crew members of the vessel sailing from Somalia, but it was not immediately known who carried out the strike.
