'Laxmi Narayan', a 450-tonne capacity ship, had a rough date at high seas of Kenyan coast when Australian navy intercepted it for ferrying 1,032 kg of narcotic substance – heroin – worth a whopping Rs1,400 crore, on the sly. The ship, along with 10 crew members on board, ostensibly used for the purpose of carrying livestock, was, however, deserted by its surreptitious owner, who has gone into hiding.
While a multi-agency search was launched in Jamnagar for the absconding owner, his ship and crew, all from Jamnagar district, are under the custody of Kenyan authorities.
"This is a major crime and international laws are very harsh. These people will be in jail for around 10-20 years if charges against them are proven," a narcotics bureau official said on condition of anonymity.
As per sources, the ship, loaded with sheep and goats, left Indian shores for Dubai on April 3. En route it loaded 1,032 kg of heroine camouflaged as cement, somewhere in the Indian Ocean between Karachi and Dubai. It then set sail for Africa, when Australian Navy seized the vessel with a record haul of 1,032 kilograms of heroin, approximately 27 nautical miles east of Mombasa, Kenya, late on April 23.
In a media brief, Coalition Maritime Force (CMF), that guards the maritime boundary, confirmed that Aussie Navy frigate HMAS Darwin seized and destroyed a tonne of heroin with a street value of more than Rs1400 crore it found aboard a vessel in the Indian Ocean. CMF guards an area of more than two million square miles, taking in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman to stop drug trafficking from Afghanistan and Pakistan into Africa. They claim this is the largest and most valuable seizure in the area.
Even in February, CMF had seized 300 kg of heroin, said the official from Narcotics bureau, adding that this is one of the biggest areas for drug trafficking from Afghanistan. "Heroin produced in Afghanistan comes to Karachi in Pakistan and then it is transported to African continent. From Africa it is transported in small quantities to various parts of the world," official added.
Meanwhile, Ajay Parmar, director of Meghji Ghela & Co of Veraval, the company that owns the ship has approached Veraval police to lodge a complaint stating that they had leased the vessel to one Haji Basheer alias Raja for a year. "Local authorities have informed me about the seizure of the ship. I have lodged a complaint against Raja for cheating and breach of trust," Parmar said.
On the other hand, sources say that the incident has also rattled Indian authorities as to how narcotics was being ferried on an Indian ship. Official sources claim that directorate of revenue intelligence, customs, special operations group and CID – Crime have launched joint hunt to nab Bashir alias Raja of Salaya while Jamnagar police, headed by CID-crime, is also hunting for Raja to grill him on the matter.
Raja, however, is still underground till the time of filing the report.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}