Five Pak nationals held with Rs 175 cr drugs off Gujarat coast

Five Pakistani nationals on board a fishing boat were apprehended mid-sea off Gujarat coast on Monday morning when they were allegedly trying to smuggle drugs worth Rs 175 crore into the state, security agencies said.

As many as 35 packets of heroin, each weighing one kg, were seized from the five men near Jakhau coast in Kutch district, located around 440 km from here, the Indian Coast Guard said in a release.

The seized contraband is worth Rs 175 crore in the international market, it said.

The early morning operation in the Arabian Sea near Jakhau was carried out by teams of the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad and the Indian Coast Guard after the ATS received inputs about a possible smuggling attempt.

"The information further revealed that the consignment was being sent in a Pakistani fishing boat from Pakistan. ATS officials approached the Coast Guard and a joint operation was launched to apprehend the smugglers," the release said.

A team of ATS and Coast Guard started the operation with fast interceptor boats at Jakhau.

A suspicious boat of Pakistani origin was eventually located during search operation off Jakhau coast, the Coast Guard said, adding that 35 packets of heroin were found on it.

"The approximate weight of the confiscated contraband is 35 kg, valuing Rs 175 crore in the international market. The apprehended persons are being interrogated jointly by all agencies," it said.

The apprehended Pakistani men have been identified as Anees Isa Bhatti (30), Ismail Mohammed Kachchi (50), Ashhraf Usman Kutchhi (42), Kareem Abdulla Kutchhi (37) andAbubaqar Ashraf Sumra (55), all residents of Karachi, it added.