The Indian Coast Guard and Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in a joint operation on September 14, 2022, detained six Pakistani nationals in Gujarat with 40 kg of drugs worth rupees 200 crores. The Pakistani nationals were on board a fishing trawler off the Jakhau coast in the Kutch district of Gujarat.
As per the statement given by the ATS:
We had a lead that an attempt was being made to smuggle drugs into Gujarat. We shared this intelligence with the Indian Coast Guard and launched a joint operation with them. During the operation, we intercepted a Pakistani fishing trawler with six Pakistani fishermen and narcotic drugs worth around Rs 200 crore aboard.
However, the exact nature of the drug will be known once it is brought to the coast and its forensic analysis is done. The trawler and six suspects are being brought to Jakhau coast.
The coastal area of Kutch in Gujarat near the India-Pakistan maritime border has seen a rise in drug smuggling in last few years. Pakistani smugglers actively try to use the Gujarat coast near the Sir Creek region to smuggle drugs into India. Gujarat ATS and Indian Coast Guard in multiple joint operations in the last three years have seized drugs worth rupees 2,170 crores, out of which rupees 1,466.18 crores were seized in 2021 alone.
