Gandhinagar: An audio clip purportedly of two drug smugglers now in circulation in Gujarat has one smuggler claiming that “It is just impossible to land drugs on the Gujarat coast, the vigil has increased upto 400 nautical miles in the high seas. No route is safe and especially Irani captains are not ready to take such a consignment.”
Deputy Inspector General (ATS), Deepan Bhadran, has confirmed that an Indian agency intercepted the conversation between the two drug smugglers.
In the audio clip, the caller does not introduce himself but calls the respondent Hasimbhai and starts the conversation with good wishes. He then states, “I had a meeting with the ‘Nakhuda’ (captain of country vessel) for two hours, he has refused to land the drugs at the said point, Indian’s vigil is now not limited to 190 nautical miles but upto 400 nautical miles. It is not possible from here, my advice is not to take any consignment, if Irani vessel sails out I don’t think they will be able to safely land, no one wants to get caught by the Indians.”
The caller further says, “It is not possible by the Irani captain, Jamnagar and Porbandar are hardly 180 to 200 nautical miles away, just impossible to sneak inside, that is not one percent chance of safe landing. If the consignment is landed safely everyone will make money otherwise they will lose. Irani country vessels are risky and only one route is safe, but they are not ready to take the risk. Even if the vessel starts from Iran, they will get a hint of it.”
In the last two years Indian agencies have seized 25,999 kilograms of drugs, worth Rs 5,000 crore, while being smuggled into India and have arrested 30 Pakistanis, 17 Iranians, 2 Afghans and 1 Nigerian. A total of 422 NDPS cases have been registered, the state crime bureau records reveal.
(IANS)
