Drugs worth over Rs 376 cr covered in fabric seized in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad seized a shipment of 75.3 kg of heroin near Mundra port in the Kutch district. The drugs are estimated to be worth Rs 376.5 crore.

The illegal goods were hidden inside fabric rolls in a shipment from the UAE. Gujarat Director General of Police Ashish Bhatia said it was meant to be transported to Punjab. It was sent by Green Forest General Trading in the UAE and received by Jovial Container Lines, a West Bengal-based delivery agent.

The ATS was following a tip given by the Punjab police. No one has been arrested in connection to the drugs yet.

The container arrived at the Mundra port about two and a half months ago. "The ATS team and a Punjab police sub-inspector located the suspected container at a Container Freight Station," said Bhatia. The shipment had 540 fabric rolls and heroin was found inside 64 of them.

He told the media that fabric was wrapped on long cylindrical pipes made of cardboard. "Drug dealers had created a cavity by putting a plastic pipe of a larger diameter on the cardboard pipe. Heroin was filled in the cavity and then sealed tightly using carbon tapes so that it goes undetected in X-ray check".

The official added that drug peddlers will use whatever channel they find suitable to send drugs to India. He added the ATS has seized drugs from several ports in Gujarat including Mundra, Kandla, and Pipavav in the recent past. "Drugs had also been seized from the Nhava Sheva port in Maharashtra." He added that similar cases have been reported in Chennai and West Bengal as well.

Bhatia claimed that most drugs sent to Gujarat ports had been seized due to the alertness of the state police and other law enforcement agencies.