In a major breakthrough against drug trafficking, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), in a joint overnight operation with the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on April 12-13, 2025, seized over 300 kg of narcotics (methamphetamine) worth approximately Rs 1,800 crore.
According to confirmed information from Gujarat ATS, a ship from the Coast Guard Region (West) that was on a multi-mission assignment near the North Maharashtra/South Gujarat area changed course and stopped a boat trying to transfer goods close to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). When the suspect boat saw the approaching Coast Guard ship, it threw its drugs into the sea and tried to escape towards the IMBL. Upon realizing the approaching ICG ship, the suspect boat dumped its narcotics shipment in the sea before it started fleeing toward the IMBL. The alert ICG ship deployed its sea boat immediately for recovery of the jettisoned consignment and commenced a hot chase of the suspect boat.
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 crossover resulted in the termination of the hot chase and precluded the ICG ship from apprehending the suspect boat. Meanwhile, the ICG team in a sea boat recovered the sizable amount of narcotics that was dumped into the sea after a thorough search in the tough night conditions.
The ICG ship has brought the seized narcotics to Porbandar for further investigations. The joint efforts of ICG and Gujarat ATS reaffirm the synergy for national objectives, having led to 13 successful law enforcement operations in recent years.
