The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized nearly 90 kg of heroin worth Rs 450 crore from a shipping arriving from Iran at the Pipavav port in Amreli district.
According to Gujarat Director General of Police Ashish Bhatia, the drug syndicate used a unique method in which threads were soaked in a solution containing heroin, then dried, formed into bales, and packed in bags for export.
“The container, having large bags of thread, arrived at the Pipavav port from Iran nearly five months back. A forensic analysis of four suspicious bags having threads weighing nearly 395 kg revealed that the threads contained opiate derivatives or heroin. In all, we found nearly 90 kg of heroin worth Rs 450 crore from those threads,” said Bhatia.
The DRI stated in a statement that these bags containing heroin-soaked threads were shipped alongside other bags containing normal thread bales to avoid detection by authorities.
“The modus operandi in this case would have required the extraction of heroin mixed in the threads. Examination and seizure proceedings by the DRI under the provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985 are underway,” said the release.