Drugs worth 12 thousand crores caught from Kerala coast; Consignment was being brought from the port of Iran

Taking major action on Saturday, the team of NCB and Indian Navy seized drugs worth 12 thousand crores from near the Kerala coast. The seized consignment also includes methamphetamine, heroin, and charas. The accused were bringing these drugs from Pakistan to India via sea route by boat.
NCB Deputy Director General (Ops) Sanjay Kumar Singh told that NCB and Indian Navy carried out this operation in joint action. The source of the recovered drugs is Pakistan. These drugs were being brought from the Chabahar Port of Iran. The value of the seized drugs is close to Rs 12,000 crore. This is the second-largest consignment. Earlier in September 2021, drugs worth Rs 21 thousand crore were seized from Adani Port in Gujarat.
Information has been received that the drugs were supplied from Pakistan and were being brought to India through the sea route of Iran. These drugs were seized even before reaching the port in Gujarat. The caught mafia with 2600 kg of drugs has been taken to the port of Kochi. Here NCB and Navy teams are questioning him. It is being ascertained where and to whom the drugs were to be delivered.
Sanjay Kumar said that we had started Operation Samudragupt in February 2022. Under the operation, the team has so far seized about 4000 kg of different types of drugs. In this operation, first in February 2022, a joint team of NCB and Indian Navy seized 529 kg hashish, 221 kg methamphetamine, and 13 kg heroin from the coast of Gujarat.
The drugs were brought from Balochistan and Afghanistan. A suspected Pakistani national was also detained. After this, in October 2022, the joint team intercepted an Iranian boat off the coast of Kerala, from which a total of 200 kg of high-grade heroin was seized. In this operation, 6 Iranian drug smugglers were also arrested.
NCB worked with Sri Lanka and Maldives on Operation Samudragupt
Apart from the Indian Navy, NCB also worked with Sri Lanka and Maldives regarding Operation Samudragupt. Information was shared with each other, which led to two operations by the Sri Lankan Navy in December 2022 and April 2023.
In this, 19 drug peddlers were arrested along with the seizure of 286 kg of heroin and 128 kg of methamphetamine. At the same time, in March 2023, the Maldivian police arrested 5 smugglers while recovering 4 kg of heroin.
A mothership is a large vessel that distributes drugs to different boats during their voyages from the Makran Coast around Pakistan and Iran.