The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) apprehended six people from Myanmar with banned contraband worth approximately ₹150 crore, about 125 nautical miles east of Little Andaman.
They were detained under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
At about 1200hrs on December 20, ICG Dornier aircraft sighted one non-Indian vessel operating east of Little Andaman.
The vessel was not responding on Very High Frequency (VHF). ICG Ship Aruna Asaf Ali, on patrol, was diverted for investigation, the ICG said in a statement on Sunday.
Quick seizure
“At about 1800hrs on December 20 ICGS Aruna Asaf Ali sighted the boat 125 nautical miles from nearest land, Little Andaman. The vessel failed to stop on being challenged by the ship. The ship fired three warning shots in the air and forced the vessel to stop,” the statement said.
A total of 250 packets weighing one kg each and 106 packets weighing 500gms each were recovered from the ship.
The total weight of the contraband is approximately 303 kgs. Each packet contains a white crystalline substance. The total worth is approximately ₹150 crore, an ICG official said.
A Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) team from Kolkata carried out preliminary investigation and reported that the substance is believed to be a banned drug Methaqualone, ICG said.
This is the second major recovery of contraband by the ICG in the Andaman and Nicobar region in the last three months.
