Gujarat and the daze of drugs: Major busts in coastal state in the past year

The Gujarat ATS has seized 1,975.8 kg of drugs since 2019, out of which 423.29 kg of heroin were seized so far this year alone

Gujarat’s 1,600-km long coastline has become notorious for smuggling narcotics, an issue of growing concern in the state, and naturally, a flashpoint for political leaders in the poll-bound state.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on a visit to Gandhinagar in October lauded the BJP government in the state for their “commendable work” against rising smuggling activities. He called on neighbouring states and central agencies to work together to root out the problem.

And a problem it has become. The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has seized 1,975.8 kg of drugs since 2019, out of which 423.29 kg of heroin were seized so far this year alone, which were worth Rs 2,216.47 crore.

But Shah expressed confidence in the “double-engine” BJP government. "Between 2006 and 2013, 1,257 cases related to narcotics were registered and 1,363 persons were arrested. Against that, 3,172 cases were registered and 4,888 persons arrested between 2014 and 2022. Similarly, against 1.52 lakh kg of drugs seized between 2006 and 2013, we have seized 3.53 lakh kg of drugs in the last eight years," Shah said. The value of the drugs seized in the last eight years was Rs 20,000 crore, he added.

The Opposition had other views, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slamming the state government, saying that under BJP rule, the “ease of doing drugs business” has increased.

Record drug busts in recent years

The state said in March earlier this year it has seized drugs estimated to be worth Rs 2,170 crore in the last three years and arrested 73 people, including a number of Pakistani nationals, in this connection. In 2021 alone, narcotics worth Rs 1,466.18 crore were seized, while drugs worth Rs 704.04 crore were confiscated in the previous two years.

Between 2019 and 2021, the state ATS seized 423.29 kg of heroin, 6.65 kg of MD (a synthetic stimulant) and 3.54 kg brown sugar, a release said. In 2019, the ATS seized 100 kg of heroin worth Rs 500 crore in an operation carried out in the Arabian Sea, 178 nautical miles from the Gujarat coast. In 2020, the ATS apprehended a suspicious boat off the state coast and seized 35 kg of heroin worth Rs 175 crore, an ATS release said. The number of operations carried out in the Arabian Sea rose sharply in 2021, with 60 kg heroin worth Rs 300 crore seized in two major operations in which 15 Pakistani nationals were arrested.

Major drug busts in Gujarat in recent times

Here’s a look at the biggest smuggling attempts busted by the ATS and Police through multiple joint operations.

3,000 kg heroin seized at Mundra Port - September 2021

In the first-of-its-kind seizure, and the biggest ever in India, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 2,988 kg of heroin, smuggled from Afghanistan, from a container freight station at the Mundra port in Gujarat, and registered a case in September last year. The contraband was exported from Kandahar in Afghanistan, through the Bandar Abbas Port of Iran, was concealed as "semi-processed talc stones".

Drugs worth Rs 313 crore seized - November 2021

Police seized heroin and methamphetamine drugs worth Rs 313.25 crore from three persons in Gujarat's Devbhumi Dwarka district in November 2021. The origin of the drugs was suspected to be Pakistan, smuggled into Gujarat via the sea route. Forensic analysis established that 47 packets seized from two persons contained 45 kg of heroin worth Rs 225 crore. Prior to it, the police had nabbed one Sajjad Ghosi, a resident of Thane in neighbouring Maharashtra and recovered 19 packets containing 11.483 kg of heroin and 6.168 kg of methamphetamine collectively worth Rs 88.25 crore.

Heroin worth Rs 400 crore seized from Pakistan boat off Gujarat coast - December 2021

A Pakistani fishing boat with six crew members and carrying 77 kg of heroin worth around Rs 400 crore was apprehended in the Indian waters off the Gujarat coast in December 2021. The drug seizure was made in a joint operation by the Indian Coast Guard and the Gujarat ATS, around 35 nautical miles off the Jakhau coast in Kutch district of Gujarat. They apprehended the Pakistani fishing boat 'Al Huseini' with six crew members on board in the Indian waters. The boat had left the Karachi port and was trying to establish contact using very high frequency (VHF) radio channel and code words, 'Hari-1' and 'Hari-2', for the delivery of the drugs.

Nearly 800 kg of narcotics seized by NCB-Navy - February 2022

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in February seized about 800 kg of drugs, with a street value of about Rs 2,000 crore, from a vessel in the Arabian Sea off the Gujarat coast in a joint operation with the Navy, the largest such haul.

The seizure included over 529 kg of "very high-quality hashish (charas)", more than 234 kg of the "finest quality of crystal methamphetamine" and about 15 kg of heroin. The drugs were suspected to have been loaded from Pakistan.

120 kg of heroin worth Rs 600 crore recovered - March 2022

Nearly 120 kg of heroin, valued at Rs 600 crore in global market, was seized by Gujarat ATS from the state's Morbi district, and three were arrested in March this year. The consignment was initially kept hidden in a coastal area near Salaya in Gujarat's Devbhumi Dwarka district before being moved to Morbi's Zinzuda village from where it was seized.

Heroin worth Rs 1,300 cr seized from container near Kandla port - April 2022

In a joint operation in April this year, the Gujarat ATS and the DRI seized around 260 kg of heroin, worth Rs 1,300 crore, after conducting a raid at a container station near Kandla port in Kutch district of the state.

"Based on a tip-off received by the ATS, officials of this agency along with those from the DRI raided a container station near Kandla port and found 260 kg of heroin, which is sold at Rs 5 crore per kilogram in the international market, hidden inside a container kept there," an official had told PTI.

155 kg heroin worth Rs 775 crore seized from Muzaffarnagar - May 2022

Gujarat ATS, with the help of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh police, recovered 155 kg of heroin worth Rs 775 crore from a house in UP's Muzaffarnagar in May this year. The narcotics substance worth Rs 775 crore in the international market was seized from a house belonging to key drug case accused Raji Haider Zaidi's sister in Muzaffarnagar.

NCB seizes 724 kg ganja worth Rs 1.45 cr in Surat - June 2022

In June this year, the NCB seized 724 kg ganja worth Rs 1.45 crore smuggled from Odisha in a truck after it reached its destination Surat in Gujarat and arrested six persons, including the receiver.

The federal anti-drugs agency stated that the seizure would hit the narcotics supply chain and a major inter-state network involved in the trafficking of ganja in Gujarat.

Gujarat ATS recover 225 kg mephedrone worth Rs 1,125 crore - August 2022

The Gujarat ATS had seized 225 kilograms of party drug mephedrone worth Rs 1,125 crore during a raid at an under-construction factory near Vadodara city, detaining six men. The seized mephedrone was reportedly manufactured at a chemical factory in Saykha village in Bharuch district of the state before being processed at this under-construction facility in Savli taluka of Vadodara district

Heroin worth Rs 350 cr seized from Pakistani boat - October 2022

The Indian Coast Guard and Gujarat ATS seized 50 kilograms of heroin worth Rs 350 crore from a Pakistani boat off the state coast and apprehended its six crew members last month. An investigation suggested that the seized heroin was sent by Pakistan-based drug mafia Mohammad Kadar, who intended to use the Gujarat coast to supply it further to north India and Punjab.

(With agency inputs)