Ahmedabad: Primary forensic analysis of the 203 kg of ‘contraband’ seized from an Iranian speedboat during a mid-sea operation off the Porbandar coast last month has revealed that the substance was neither a narcotic nor a psychotropic drug, a top official of the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which executed the operation, said.The seizure was carried out on Feb 17 by the ATS in coordination with the Indian Coast Guard near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). It was initially suspected to be part of a major drug trafficking attempt. Two Iranian nationals were apprehended during the operation, and 203 packets containing a crystalline substance were recovered.However, investigators now say the case appears to be one of alleged cheating rather than drug smuggling — a rare instance where an international interdiction did not yield any banned substance.“We came to know from the initial forensic reports that the substance was neither a narcotic nor a psychotropic substance. The consignment was sent to cheat the receiver. It contained a simple powder. What the actual substance is will only be known after the final forensic analysis,” an ATS officer said.Sources in the ATS indicated that the consignment may have been part of a fraudulent deal, in which the sender allegedly passed off a non-narcotic substance as contraband to dupe the buyer, possibly after receiving an advance payment. The intended route reportedly involved a mid-sea handover to an Indian vessel, with the consignment then being transported to Punjab.The operation itself was launched based on specific intelligence inputs about a shipment originating from Iran. An Indian Coast Guard vessel intercepted the suspect boat nearly 140 nautical miles off the Porbandar coast after a brief chase in low-visibility conditions.
