The operation was conducted by the Gujarat police ATS in a joint operation with Coast Guard

Five Pakistan nationals carrying heroin worth ₹175 crore were on Monday nabbed from the mid-sea in the Kutch coast by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Gujarat police, in a joint operation with the Indian Coast Guard (ICG).

The action followed credible inputs on smuggling of a large quantity of drug through the Gujarat coast, sources in the police said.

“We are committed to thwart attempts to smuggle narcotics in state, & well prepared to face any challenge in front of coastal security of 1600 Km long coast. Anti-Terrorist Gujarat, in joint operation with Indian Coast Guard caught 5 Pakistani nationals with Heroin worth ₹175 Cr,” Gujarat DGP Shivanand Jha said on Twitter.

ATS DIG Himanshu Shukla told The Hindu that the smugglers wanted to bring in the drug into the country via the Gujarat coast.

The ATS said in a press release, “Anti-Terrorism Squad, Gujarat, had got credible information that an illegal consignment of narcotic drugs, heroin, was going to be smuggled into Gujarat through coast.” Subsequently, its officers contacted the ICG, and it was decided to launch a joint operation.

The Coast Guard pressed a high-speed interceptor boat into service and a search operation was launched near the location north west of Jakhau, which was indicated in the inputs. A suspicious boat was identified as Pakistan’s Jam-Jam. It was stealthily followed and at the opportune moment, officers and personnel of the ICG and ATS successfully boarded it.

According to ATS officials, a search revealed 35 packets of heroin on the boat. Its approximate weight was 35 kg, valued approximately at ₹175 crore in the international market.

Pakistan nationals Anees Isa Bhatti, 30, Ismail Mohammed Kachchi, 50, Ashhraf Usman Kutchhi, 42, Kareem Abdulla Kutchhi, 37, Abubaqar Ashraf Sumra, 55, all residents of Beet Zajeera, Karachi, are being interrogated at Kutch.