Six Sri Lankan nationals were arrested after a boat was intercepted with 300 kilograms of heroin along with a huge quantity of arms and ammunition in Indian waters.
As per a statement, the Sri Lankan fishing vessel 'Ravihansi' was intercepted by the Indian Coast Guard on March 25 off the coast of Vizhinjam in Kerala.
"The vessel was brought to the Vizhinjam harbour and NCB Chennai Zonal Unit took over the custody of the boat and seized 300.323 kg of heroin along with five AK-47 Rifles and 1,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition. A number of incriminating documents were also seized from the occupants of the vessel," the statement said.
The heroin was found concealed inside the water tank of the vessel in 301 packets with an image of a flying horse, a common branding practice of drug trafficking syndicates.
Investigations so far indicate that an unknown vessel carried the consignment from Chabahar Port, Iran, and handed over the same to Sri Lankan fishing boat Ravihansi in the high seas near Lakshadweep. Ravihansi was then trafficking the consignment to Sri Lanka when the Indian authorities intercepted it.
The six arrested persons have been identified as LY Nandana, HKGB Dassppriya, AHS Gunasekara, SA Senarath, T Ranasinghe, and D Nissanka. They were arrested on Saturday by the NCB and remanded to judicial custody.
The statement further added, "Intelligence inputs and the investigations so far indicate that a Pakistan-based drug trafficking network is involved in the current seizure. There have been seizures of huge quantity heroin in the Arabian Sea by both Indian as well as other enforcement agencies which are believed to have trafficked by the same network."
( With inputs from ANI )
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