- ‘Drug-Free Bharat’ Push: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is mowing down drug cartels with full might: Home Minister Amit Shah
- As per the central government, the NCB and police forces across India seized drugs valued at Rs 16,914 crore in 2024—the highest figure since independence
NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, APR 14
In a joint operation on the night of April 12-13, the Indian Coast Guard and Gujarat ATS have seized a consignment of 300 kilogram narcotics worth Rs 1,800 crore off International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) near Gujarat’s coast.
On spotting the ICG ship, smugglers dumped contraband and fled across the IMBL. The consignment was recovered at sea and was handed to the ATS for further investigation, ICG said.
Under the government’s “drug-free Bharat” vision, authorities have intensified their campaign to bust drug racket across the country.
“The operation was a perfect example of inter-agency coordination wherein based on a corroborated input from Gujarat ATS, an ICG ship from the Coast Guard Region (West), which was on multi-mission deployment off North Maharashtra/ South Gujarat area, diverted and intercepted an attempted transshipment in proximity of the notional International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) prior it could be undertaken, thus leading to the successful operation. Based on the credible Int input of ATS, the ICG ship identified a suspect boat despite pitch dark night. On realising the approaching ICG ship, the suspect boat dumped its narcotics consignment in sea before it started fleeing towards the IMBL. The alert ICG ship deployed its sea boat immediately for recovery of the jettisoned consignment whilst commencing a hot chase of the suspect boat,” the ICG statement said.
The proximity of IMBL and the initial separation between the ICG ship and the boat at the time of its detection helped the perpetrator to evade interception before it crossed over the IMBL within a short time. The cross over resulted in termination of the hot chase and precluded the ICG ship to apprehend the suspect boat, the statement added.
Meanwhile the ICG team in sea-boat, after thorough search in the tough night conditions, recovered the sizeable amount narcotics that was dumped into sea. The seized narcotics has been brought to Porbandar by the ICG ship for further investigations. The jointness of ICG and ATS, which has led to 13 such successful law enforcement operations in recent years reaffirms the synergy for national objective.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah has said that the Modi government is rooting out drug networks ruthlessly.
In a post on ‘X’, Union Home Minister said, “In the ceaseless pursuit of building a drug-free Bharat, a monumental feat was achieved by seizing 300 kg of narcotics worth ₹1800 crore near the international maritime border. This operation, in the seas, is a shining example of the success of the Modi govt’s whole-of-the-government approach to rooting out the evil of narcotics. Applaud Gujarat Police ATS and Indian Coast Guard for the grand success”.
The Modi govt is rooting out drug networks ruthlessly.
In the ceaseless pursuit of building a drug-free Bharat, a monumental feat was achieved by seizing 300 kg of narcotics worth ₹1800 crore near the international maritime border. This operation, in the seas, is a shining…
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 14, 2025
As per the central government, the NCB and police forces across India seized drugs valued at Rs 16,914 crore in 2024—the highest figure since independence.
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