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Red sanders worth Rs 9 crore seized at mid sea

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In a joint operation by the Indian Coast Guard and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, red sanders worth Rs 9 crore was seized while it was being smuggled to Dubai through the sea route. At least 20 persons have been arrested in the case on Friday.

A couple of days ago, there was specific intelligence input about smuggling of red sanders by sea and the Indian Coast Guard was alerted for a joint operation. The Coast Guard then pressed its ships and aircraft into action for surveillance and patrolling purposes.

"Barge MV Ganga Sagar had sailed from Sewri with the consignment and it was to transfer it to another dhow, Al Marwan, at mid-sea," said DIG Donny Michael. Al Marwan sailed from Veraval port in Gujarat showing that the 100 metric tonnes of maize on it was to be sailed to Dubai.

The arrangement was that MV Ganga Sagar and Al Marwan will meet at Bombay High to transfer the 23 tonnes highly valued illegal consignment.

Two vessels of the Indian Coast Guard — ICGS Achook and ICGS Subhadra Kumari Chauhan — sailed to sea to intercept the dhows. On the other hand, Dornier and Chetak aircraft too were pressed into the operations.

When the red sanders was being transferred from MV Ganga Sagar to Al Marwan, lights of the dhows were put off to avoid getting caught during night.

On assessment, it was ascertained that there was 23 tonnes of red sanders that was being smuggled in a dhow. The smuggling of this contraband brings to the fore how much the sea routes in and around Mumbai are still open for illegal activities and what kind of effort various agencies would have to put in to curb them.

The accused have been handed over to Mumbai police for legal action.

 

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