Four Iranian crew on boat caught with Rs 5 cr foreign cigarettes off Gujarat coast

Ahmedabad: The Indian Coast Guard has intercepted a foreign boat in the Arabian Sea off Gujarat and apprehended four Iranian nationals after seizing 200 cartons of foreign brand cigarettes valued nearly Rs 5 crore, the ICG said on Sunday.

The operation was carried out on Saturday off the Dwarka coast where a vessel, identified as Al Mukhtar and manned by four Iranian crew, was found concealing 200 cartons containing about one lakh packets of foreign brand cigarettes.

The international market value of the consignment is estimated at Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 5 crore, the ICG said in a post on X.

The boat was being escorted to Porbandar in Gujarat for further investigation and joint interrogation of the crew by security agencies, it added.

"On 21 Feb 26, @IndiaCoastGuard ship intercepted a suspicious foreign boat inside the #Indian #EEZ, approximately 115 NM west of #Dwarka. The vessel, identified as Al Mukhtar, was manned by four #Iranian crew. On rummaging, 200 cartons containing about one lakh packets of foreign brand cigarettes were discovered concealed in the holds," it said.

Earlier, the ICG and Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) in a joint operation on February 16 apprehended two Iranian nationals with more than 200 kg of suspicious narcotics off the Gujarat coast.