Ahmedabad, February 17 The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Coast Guard have apprehended two Iranians, who "brazenly" navigated a speedboat from Iran to Indian waters, attempting to smuggle more than 200 kg of a suspected chemical substance.
In a joint operation, the two agencies intercepted an Iranian speedboat, about 140 nautical miles off the Porbandar coast, on Monday night, seizing 203 packets of white powder and apprehending the accused, ATS Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Sunil Joshi said.
"Packets containing a white powder chemical were recovered from the boat, and the substance has been sent to the Forensic Laboratory for testing. This chemical could not be identified in the primary heroin detection kit," he said.
Joshi said, prima facie, it appears that the duo had travelled all the way from Iran on the speedboat.
"The way in which they travelled so far in a speedboat is quite daring. According to our information, these packets were to be received by a person from Punjab, and an investigation is underway in this regard," he said.
The official said that the ATS had received a tip-off that Iranian drug smuggler Haji Fida had dispatched a consignment of a suspected chemical substance from Konarak Port in Iran, to be delivered mid-sea to an Indian vessel, he said.
The substance was to be transported to Punjab, he added.
The accused, Abdul Majid and Abdul Sattar, are residents of Chabahar in Iran, the official said.
The DIG pointed out that travelling on a speedboat from a faraway place like Iran was rare, with only two such cases reported in the last four years.
"Iranian smugglers have developed a new modus operandi, as speedboats have a higher chance of evading Coast Guard vessels," he said.
Joshi said that two phones were found on the accused, and the probe agency is hoping to get more information from the data on the devices.
The language barrier is proving to be a challenge for establishing initial communication with the Iranians, he said.
