Gang of international smugglers held with 218 kg of heroin worth Rs 1,500 crore off Lakshadweep coast
India Today
An operation was jointly carried out by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) off the Agatti coast in Lakshadweep. Prince and Little Jesus boats were held with 218 kg of heroin.
A gang of international smugglers has been apprehended by Indian agencies while allegedly trying to smuggle around 218 kg of heroin, worth over Rs 1,500 crore in the international market, off the Lakshadweep coast, sources said on Friday.
The operation was jointly carried out by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) off Agatti coast in Lakshadweep, sources told PTI.
#WATCH | Indian Coast Guard ships chased two boats named Prince and Little Jesus off the coast of Lakshadweep and intercepted them with drugs worth over Rs 1,520 crores. Operation 'Khojbeen' was launched jointly with the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence: ICG officials pic.twitter.com/5drXSLrQqg
An official statement later said an operation was launched by the DRI after it developed specific intelligence over a period of several months that two Indian boats would be sailing from the coast of Tamil Nadu and receive narcotics in large quantity somewhere in the Arabian Sea, during the second/third week of May.
Based on these inputs, a joint operation of the DRI with ICG codenamed ‘Operation Khojbeen’ was launched on May 7 and under the operation, ICG ship Sujeet, with DRI officials onboard, maintained a close watch near the the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
