On Monday, an audio clip of Pakistani drug peddlers recovered by the Gujarat police, mainly the Anti-terrorist Squad, revealed that the international mafia was scared to smuggle drugs into the country through the state’s coast. The clip consists of a conversation between two smugglers where one of them says “It’s impossible to ship narcotic substances to India and escape safely”.
“See Hashimbhai, I had meetings with some individuals, however, no one is ready to sail with the drugs. Not simply 190 miles, the Indian forces have been patrolling as much as 400 miles until the worldwide border. It’s impossible to sail with the maal (drugs),” one of the smugglers is heard telling Hashim, the drug lord, within the audio clip attained by the Gujarat police.
WATCH : One Pakistani Drug Mafia says “koi nakhuda is point (Gujarat) par jane to taiyar nahi hai, usne bola 190 mile to chhodo 400 mile par bhi India ghum raha hai.” in an audio clip.
— BHK🇮🇳 (@_B_H_K) August 2, 2022
1/2 pic.twitter.com/ur5N0eyBrX
He’s additionally heard saying that it is impossible to land within the coastal districts of Jamnagar and Porbandar. “Who doesn’t want money? However, even the bravest individuals, the sailors, and the drug runners are not ready to carry the drugs. There’s not even 1% chance of escaping India (police and defence forces)”, the clip says.
According to the reports, in the previous three years, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad has effectively foiled international mafia attempts to smuggle narcotics into the country via the state’s shore, arresting around 65 drug peddlers, including 30 Pakistan nationals. It has confiscated 1,045 kg of contraband, including heroin, worth Rs 5,200 crore, and apprehended 30 Pakistanis, seven Iranians, three Afghans, and one Nigerian, an ATS release notes. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) also seized 3,000 kilos of heroin from two cargo containers at Mundra Port in September last year, it stated. The drug is said to have originated in Afghanistan.
To note, the ATS’ intelligence on drug transport and the battle against the issue comes just a day after Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi vehemently attacked the ruling BJP on Monday, accusing the party of alleged support of the drug cartel. “Drugs recovered at Gujarat’s Mundra port –September 2021, 3000 Kg worth Rs 21000 Crore; May 2022, 56 Kg worth Rs 500 crore and July 2022, 75 Kg worth Rs 375 crore. Who are the people sitting in the double-engine government who are constantly giving patronage to the drug-liquor mafia? Why are the youth of Gujarat being forced into drugs?” Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.
मेरे सवाल:
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 1, 2022
1. एक ही पोर्ट पर 3 बार ड्रग्स बरामद होने के बावजूद, उसी पोर्ट पर लगातार ड्रग्स कैसे उतर रही है?
2. क्या गुजरात में कानून व्यवस्था ख़त्म है? माफिया को कानून का कोई डर नहीं? या ये माफिया की सरकार है?#BJPDrugGate
In the series of tweets, he asked further how drugs were landing at the same port continuously, despite the seizure of drugs there three times. “Is there law and order in Gujarat? Does the mafia have no fear of the law? Or is this the government of mafias?” Gandhi said on August 1.
Deepan Bhadran, ATS Deputy Inspector General meanwhile noted that smugglers have recently begun employing two distinct methods to get narcotics into the nation. “They either use a fishing boat to enter Gujarat through the sea route illegally or send the contraband in shipping containers which land at our ports. But, Gujarat ATS, in coordination with central agencies like DRI and Coast Guard, has foiled all these attempts during the last few years,” Bhadran was quoted.
Stating further that Gujarat has zero tolerance for such crimes, he said, “the ATS and other agencies are always alert to nab the culprits and foil their attempts. Drug smuggling is a crime without borders and that is why central agencies and ATS work together to foil the attempts of drug mafias”.
Reports mention that the arrest of 667 mafia members and 422 cases under the Narcotic Medicine and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has caused concern among Gujarat police personnel and the ATS. Gujarat police have charged 30 Pakistanis, 17 Iranians, two Afghan nationals, and one Nigerian citizen under the NDPS Act in the past two years. In recent years, the Gujarat ATS has carried out at least ten significant operations, including mid-sea operations and raids in various parts of the nation.
