Rs 3,000 crore drug haul: 5 Pakistanis sent to 12-day police custody in Ahmedabad

A court in Ahmedabad on Thursday sent five Pakistani nationals arrested in connection with a Rs 3,000 crore drug haul to 12 days' police remand. The men were detained after agencies seized 526 kg of methamphetamine and heroin from an Iranian boat in the Arabian Sea on September 25.The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad had sought 14 days' remand, but the court granted custody till October 13. The operation was carried out jointly by the Gujarat ATS and the Indian Coast Guard, which intercepted the vessel far off the Indian coast after tracking it on the basis of intelligence inputs.Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate HJ Gadhvi remanded Mohammad Yakub Balochi, Shakirullah, Faridullah, Ahmed Khan and Wahidullah Khan, all residents of Peshawar in Pakistan, to police custody till October 13, an official said.The five were caught from the Iranian boat Azad in the Arabian Sea. The vessel was intercepted around 160 nautical miles northwest of Lakshadweep and about 490 nautical miles southwest of Mumbai. The ATS said the Coast Guard carried out sea-air surveillance and tracked the suspicious vessel on actionable intelligence shared by the Gujarat ATS and central intelligence agencies.According to the ATS, the intelligence suggested that a Nigerian national had recently met a wanted Gujarat-based accused, and they had planned to smuggle more than 500 kg of methamphetamine and heroin from Iran into India. The ATS said advance funds for the operation were allegedly routed through hawala channels, while the smugglers planned to avoid the Gujarat coastline and offload the consignment at sea.The vessel's crew and the seized drugs were brought to Mumbai under armed escort for joint interrogation and further legal proceedings. Preliminary investigation showed that the contraband was to be taken to the Tamil Nadu coast after being received mid-sea.The ATS said the boat had left from near Konarak port in Iran. While it was passing off Gwadar in Pakistan, smugglers on a smaller boat allegedly transferred the contraband to the Iranian vessel.The case centres on the seizure of 526 kg of methamphetamine and heroin worth more than Rs 3,000 crore from the boat Azad, the arrest of five Pakistani nationals, and the investigation into an alleged plan to bring the consignment into India by sea.- Ends