New Delhi: Gujarat’s anti-terrorist squad (ATS) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized more than 70 kg of heroin worth more than Rs 350 crore during a joint operation in Mundra port on Tuesday. This is the second major drug consignment to be intercepted at Mundra port in less than a year.
A container shipped from a Gulf country was detained by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and the ATS early on Monday morning after it landed at Mundra port run by Adani Group on the coast of Kutch district in Gujarat. The container was officially declared to be packed with textile in shipping bills and Customs filings. However, upon physical verification, the agencies found heroin hidden inside it, The Indian Express reported quoting highly placed sources.
“The process of weighing and ascertaining the exact weight of the consignment is still ongoing. But it has been confirmed that the banned substance found inside the container is heroin and it weighs more than 70 kg,” the source said.
Notably, this is the second major consignment of heroin to be intercepted at Mundra port in less than a year’s time. In September last year, the DRI intercepted three containers shipped from Bandar Abbas port in Iran to Mundra. The containers, which were officially declared to be containing semi-processed talc stones, were actually found to be stuffed with 2988.21 kg or around three metric tonnes of heroin worth more than Rs 21,000 crore. The DRI had arrested a couple from Chennai, whose firm had officially imported the cargo, and a few others before the probe was transferred to the National Investigation Agency.