A joint operation by the Indian Coast Guard and Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad caught a Pakistani fish trawler carrying 40 kgs of drugs worth Rs 200 crores off the Gujarat coast on Wednesday.
Six Pakistani nationals present on the trawler were also arrested, an ATS official said.
“The joint team of the Coast Guard and ATS intercepted the fishing boat carrying heroin near Jakhau harbour in Kutch district,” the official said.
The drugs were reportedly meant to be transported to Punjab after being offloaded on the Gujarat coast. Acting on a specific tip-off, the joint team of ATS and Coast Guard intercepted the boat that left Pakistan and caught six Pakistani nationals with 40 kg of heroin. The Coast Guard team is expected to reach the Jakhau coast later in the day.
The Punjab connection to drug seizures off the Gujarat coast
As per reports, the contraband caught is linked to jails in Amritsar, Ferozepur, and Faridkot in Punjab. The drugs seized today were reportedly ordered by a Nigerian national named Chief lodged in Amritsar Jail and Meraj Rahmani imprisoned in Kapurthala Jail.
पंजाब की जेलों से चल रहा है ड्रग्स का बड़ा कारोबार,गुजरात ATS का दावा।#ATS ने जो ड्रग्स पकड़ी उसके तार अमृतसर,कपूरथला,फिरोजपुर,फरीदकोट जेल से जुड़े है।
— Janak Dave (@dave_janak) September 14, 2022
आज पकड़ी 200 Cr की 40 KG ड्रग्स अमृतसर जेल में कैद चीफ नामके नाइजीरियन और कपूरथला जेल में कैद मेराज रहमानी ने मंगवाई.
(1/2) pic.twitter.com/6HmcOdaOFM
It is worth noting that this is not the first time that ATS has unearthed Punjab links to the drugs seized off the Gujarat coast. While Arvind Kejriwal had asked that drugs transported from Gujarat to Punjab need to be investigated, he did not mention that the orders were placed from inside jails in Punjab.
Earlier in July this year, officials caught 75 kg of drugs worth Rs 375 crores, ordered by one Bagga Khan imprisoned in Faridkot jail.
Similarly, last year, Coast Guard caught 146 kg of drugs worth Rs 730 crores ordered by a person named Bhola shooter lodged in Ferozepur jail.
