Ahmedabad: In a joint operation, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) intercepted an Iranian speedboat carrying 203kg of a suspected chemical substance in Indian waters near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), around 140 nautical miles off the Porbandar coast.However, the exact nature of the substance is yet to be ascertained, ICG officials said.According to an official statement from the ATS, superintendent of police, ATS Gujarat, K K Patel received specific intelligence that an Iranian drug smuggler, Haji Fida, had dispatched a consignment of nearly 200kg of suspected contraband from Konarak Port in Iran. The input suggested that the consignment would reach Indian waters between Feb 15 and 16 and would be handed over mid-sea to an Indian vessel, which would then transport it to Punjab.Based on the input, an operation was planned and a team was deployed to Porbandar. The intelligence was shared with the coast guard, leading to a coordinated operation at sea.On Monday at around 8pm, an ICG ship from the Coast Guard Region (North West), on multi-mission deployment, was diverted to intercept a suspicious foreign boat near the IMBL. Despite low visibility, the vessel was located using technical and human surveillance. On noticing the approaching coast guard ship, the speedboat attempted to flee towards the notional IMBL but was chased and intercepted within Indian waters.Two Iranian nationals on board were apprehended. They were identified as Abdul Majid Ismail and Abdul Sattar Kadarbaksh, both residents of Chabahar, Iran. A search of the vessel led to the recovery of 203 packets, each weighing about 1kg, containing a crystalline substance suspected to be a drug.A senior ATS officer said the exact nature of the substance is yet to be determined. “This is not heroin, methamphetamine or mephedrone. We have field testing kits which ruled out these three substances. The samples have been sent for forensic examination to ascertain the exact composition of the substance,” the officer said.ATS officials said the consignment was meant to be delivered in Punjab and that a local man in Gujarat was to receive the parcels mid-sea and arrange their onward transport. The boat, the accused, and the seized substance were brought to the Porbandar Coast Guard station for further legal proceedings.
