800 kg drugs worth ₹4.5k crore seized in Gujarat and Delhi

New Delhi: In a joint operation, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Gujarat Police's anti-terrorism squad (ATS) and Indian Navy on Friday seized a vessel with nearly 700 kg of Methamphetamine in the territorial waters off Gujarat coast. Eight foreign nationals found on the vessel without any identity documents claimed to be Iranians.

The street value of the seized Methamphetamine, a synthetic recreational variety of narcotics, could be between ₹2,500-3,500 crore in the international market, according to NCB officials.

In another seizure, NCB confiscated 82.53 kg of high-grade cocaine worth ₹900 crore from Janakpuri and Nangloi in Delhi. The initial recovery from a courier shop was from a parcel which was destined to Australia.


A continuous intelligence collection and analysis generated reliable inputs that an unregistered vessel without any AIS will enter Indian waters with narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. An operation, codenamed Sagar Manthan-4, was launched, the vessel was identified and interdicted by the Navy, resulting in seizure and apprehension on Friday, NCB said.

Home minister Amit Shah posted on X: "The back-to-back major breakthroughs against illegal drugs in a single day demonstrate the Modi government's unwavering resolve to build a drug-free Bharat. NCB today confiscated 82.53 kg of high-grade cocaine in New Delhi. The massive drug consignment worth approximately ₹900 crore was tracked down by a bottom-to-top approach after a quantity of drugs was seized in a courier center in Delhi."

A probe to identify the backward and forward linkages of the drug syndicate is on, for which help from foreign drug law enforcement agencies is being taken. This operation is also a great example of Inter-agency cooperation and coordination, NCB said.

Operation Sagar Manthan was launched early this year by NCB by constituting a team of officers from its operations branch, Indian Navy's intelligence wing, Indian Coast Guard and Gujarat Police ATS to counter the threat emanating from maritime trafficking of illicit drugs.

Till now about 3,400 kg of various narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances have been seized.