Express News Service
AHMEDABAD/CHANDIGARH: In a joint operation, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Punjab Police and central agencies recovered 75kg heroin, estimated to be worth over Rs 375 crore, from a container near Mundra port in Kutch district.
The Director-General of Police, Punjab, Gaurav Yadav said in Chandigarh on Tuesday that the contraband was kept concealed in a container carrying unstitched clothes. The container, which was loaded from Jebel Ali port in the UAE, was booked by an importer from Malerkotla, Punjab.
“Based on the tip-off from Punjab Police, the ATS searched the shipping container, which had arrived from Dubai and was kept at a container freight station outside the port. The ATS found nearly 75 kg of heroin concealed in the cargo,” Gujarat ATS DIG Dipen Bhadran said. The consignment was opened in the presence of customs officials.
Gujarat DGP Ashish Bhatia said, “There was specific intelligence input that a few containers imported from Dubai by ‘Green Forest General Trading’ Company, carrying ‘clothes’ were lying at the Mundra container freight station for some time.
Since India is a leading textile exporter, the police got suspicious as to why should somebody import clothes in large quantities from Dubai. On inspection, the ATS personnel unearthed a large quantity of drugs from the containers.”
The police got suspicious as the containers were filled only one-third, which seldom happens. “There were 540 textile rolls, out of which 64 carried heroin. To bypass the X-ray machine, plastic wrappers were used to conceal the drugs, while cello tapes were used to cover the plastic layer,” Bhatia said.
Drug Seizures in Gujarat Recently
Sept. 2021: Largest seizure of narcotic substances in India reported at Mundra port
Feb. 2022: 750 kg drugs worth over Rs 2,000 crore seized from ship off Gujarat coast
From 2019-2021, contraband weighing 437 kg, worth Rs 2,100 crore, recovered; 73 persons held I3,000 Kg drugs worth Rs 21,000 crore were seized
