Indian Coast Guard thwarts smuggling of narcotics worth Rs. 2100 cr by Lankan
The Indian Coast Guard has thwarted an attempt by Sri Lankan boats to smuggle narcotic drugs worth Rs. 2100 crore into India via the Lakshadweep region, off the country’s West Coast, over the weekend. As per the Coast Guard, the boats had dumped five bags of contraband weighing nearly 260 kgs in the water, after having been sure of no escape from the ICG aircraft and ships that were conducting surveillance in the region.
Based on the initial investigation, the Coast guard has said that the SLFB Akarsha Duwa was at sea for over a fortnight.
After being intercepted, as the crew have misleading statements and behaved abnormally, the Coast Guard interrogated them tactfully, following which the crew admitted to having been involved in narcotics smuggling.
Owing to rough sea conditions off Minicoy Islands, the boats were brought to Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, 7th March for further interrogation by the security agencies.
Post rummaging and joint investigation at Vizhinjam, SLFB Akarsha Duwa along with 6 Sri Lankan crew were detained. Two other Sri Lankan boats with the crew were released for handing over to Sri Lankan authorities for further investigation, due to a considerable quantity of fish stock onboard.
A similar attempt was thwarted in November last year, when ICG apprehended Sri Lankan fishing boat ‘Shenaya Duwa’ off Kanyakumari, carrying narcotics worth around Rs.1000cr in the International market.
