Rs 130 crore cocaine seized off Gujarat's Kutch coast; ATS launches probe

GANDHIDHAM: Thirteen unclaimed packets of cocaine, valued at Rs 130 crore in the international market, were recovered from a creek area near Gandhidham town in Gujarat's Kutch district in the early hours of Wednesday, police said.

A preliminary probe suggested the smugglers had hidden the contraband at the sea shore to avoid getting caught, Kutch-East division Superintendent of Police Sagar Bagmar said, adding this is the second major drug recovery from the same creek area in eight months.

"A joint team of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Special Operations Group recovered 13 unclaimed packets of cocaine valued at Rs 130 crore from the creek area passing from Mithi Rohar village near Gandhidham town," he said.

The contraband was hidden there by smugglers and the packets are similar to the ones recovered from the same area in September last year, Bagmar said, adding the ATS was conducting further investigation.

"We have recovered 13 unclaimed packets of cocaine, each weighing one kilogram, from a creek area near Gandhidham in Kutch during the early hours. We have registered a case against unidentified persons and further investigation is on," Superintendent of Police, ATS, Sunil Joshi said.

In September last year, the Kutch-East police recovered 80 unclaimed packets of cocaine, each weighing one kilogram and collectively valued at Rs 800 crore in the international market, from the same area.