Indian Coast Guard seizes contraband drugs worth Rs 300 crore from Myanmar ship

New Delhi: The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has seized contraband drugs worth Rs 300 crore from a Myanmar ship in the Indian Ocean region, officials said on Saturday.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the ICG on Saturday for the successful operation.

According to the ICG officials, the cargo was suspected to be part of a larger drug networking cartel operating in the Indian Ocean region.

@IndiaCoastGuard seized drug Ketamine worth ₹300 Crores from a Myanmarese vessel operating near Car Nicobar Islands. Further investigation is in progress by @IndiaCoastGuard, NCB & Local police
@PMOIndia @DefenceMinIndia pic.twitter.com/u0Noyx6WGa

— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) September 21, 2019

The massive drug seizure was made on September 19 by ICG ship Rajveer near the Car Nicobar Islands of India. Officials said nearly 1,160 kg of the ketamine drug was seized in the co-ordinated sea-air operation from the vessel that was later found to belong to Myanmar.

An official said that the six crew members onboard the Myanmar ship were taken into custody on Saturday and were being interrogated by officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau and local police in Port Blair of Andaman Islands.

The boat carrying the drug consignment sunk in the Indian Ocean after sea waters flooded its deck when the ICG was ferrying it from Car Nicobar to Port Blair.

Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh has congratulated the ‘ICGS Rajvir’ team for confiscating a huge cache of narcotics in boat near Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The NCB team has reached Port Blair and identification of the confiscated drugs is being done by them. @IndiaCoastGuard pic.twitter.com/qYEBQgEXiH

— रक्षा मंत्री कार्यालय/ RMO India (@DefenceMinIndia) September 21, 2019

“Surveillance aircraft of the coast guard sighted the suspicious vehicle on September 18. The ship did not respond to messages relayed through VHF. Hence, ICG ship Rajveer was directed to intercept it. The crew on the Myanmar vessel tried to evade the Coast Guard ship when intercepted near Car Nicobar on September 19. Its deck was unlit,” said an ICG official.

Sources said the crew have revealed during interrogations that they started their journey with the drug consignment from Damson Bay in Myanmar on September 14 and had instructions to transfer the consignment, packed in 57 gunny bundles, to another ship operating near the Thailand-Malaysia border.

The headline of the story has been changed by EP Web Desk

Published on: Sep 21, 2019 at 14:45 IST

IANS