The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has seized about 800kg of psychedelic drugs valued at ₹2,000 crore in the international market in its first operation on high seas, the agency said in a statement on Saturday.
The operation was conducted jointly with the Indian Navy beyond India’s exclusive economic zone in the Arabian sea. The NCB had specific intelligence inputs that two large boats carrying a large quantity of narcotics were headed from the Arabian sea towards Gujarat or Mumbai, according to people familiar with the matter.
An operation was launched by the operations unit of the NCB, led by deputy director general Sanjay Kumar Singh, in collaboration with the Indian Navy, to track the boats on the high seas, said one of the officials, requesting anonymity.
After scouring the ocean for hours this week, two boats were spotted outside India’s EEZ , which is 200 nautical miles off the country’s coast.
As an Indian Navy vessel reached the site, the smugglers abandoned one of the boats and fled in the other, the official said. While checking the boat left behind, the NCB found 525kg of high-quality hashish and 234 kg of crystalline methamphetamine.
“It is the first such operation in NCB’s history or other investigation agencies where seizure has been made on the high seas,” NCB director general S N Pradhan said . “A lot of planning and coordination has gone into the operation and it is a huge catch.”
{{/usCountry}}“It is the first such operation in NCB’s history or other investigation agencies where seizure has been made on the high seas,” NCB director general S N Pradhan said . “A lot of planning and coordination has gone into the operation and it is a huge catch.”
{{/usCountry}}Interstate narcotics ring using cryptocurrency busted
In another major drug bust, the NCB said on Saturday that it has arrested 22 people including software engineers, a financial analyst, an MBA graduate and one of their own personnel for running a pan-India drug trafficking network that uses the so-called darknet and cryptocurrency to courier narcotics.
Three major markets running on the darknet were identified in the four-month long operation in several states including the national capital region, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Assam, Punjab, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Rajasthan.
Recreational drugs were being sourced from countries like the US, the UK, the Netherlands and Poland using courier services and also the India Post network, said Gyaneshwar Singh, NCB’s deputy director general (north).
“The network was busted after a long operation that was initiated after a drug parcel was intercepted by us in Kolkata,” Singh said. “Our special investigation team that conducts cyber patrolling to check the usage of darknet has busted three big networks being run in the country using the darknet, anonymous cryptocurrency transactions and pseudonymous social media profiles.”