Coast Guard officer caught with drugs
Indian Coast Guard has seized 5500 kg of drugs in the sea near Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This consignment of drugs has been seized from a Myanmar fishing boat. The name of this boat is “So Wei Yan Hu”. The Coast Guard also seized a portable Inmarsat satellite phone along with the banned drug methamphetamine. Rohingya boats and several hunters from Myanmar have been seen in the Andaman Sea in the last few days. Some of these have also been caught. Many revelations were made during the joint interrogation of the captured poachers, after which strict surveillance was being kept on the Andaman Sea and now the largest consignment of drugs has been caught.
During surveillance, Dornier aircraft of the Indian Coast Guard detected a boat which looked suspicious. This was reported to the Joint Operation Center (JOC), which asked ICG Fast Patrol Vessel, ICG Ship Aruna Asaf Ali from Sri Vijaya Puram to trace the suspicious boat to intercept the suspicious boat. The ICG ship proceeded at high speed to intercept the suspicious boat despite the prevailing rough sea conditions.
5500 kg drugs found in the boat
The ICG ship intercepted a fishing boat which did not match the local Indian boat. The boat was carrying the Myanmar flag, so it was kept under surveillance till the morning of 24 November 24. ICG ship Aruna Asaf Ali boarded the suspected boat at 6:30 am on 24 Nov 24 for investigation and joint interrogation was conducted. At this time the boat was 8 nautical miles away from Barren Island in Indian waters. The six boat crew on board the boat were identified as Myanmar nationals. During a search of the boat, the boarding party seized approximately 5500 kg of a white crystalline substance along with a portable Inmarsat satellite phone.
The ship returned on 25 November
ICG ship Aruna Asaf Ali and the captured boat reached Sri Vijayapuram at 5 am on 25 Nov 24. This operation is a major success in the fight against illegal drug trafficking and poaching in Indian waters. This is the largest consignment of drugs ever seized by the Indian Coast Guard. It is clear from this incident that the international maritime drug trade is growing and posing new challenges. At the same time, the Indian Coast Guard is committed to border security and stopping illegal drug trade.
