The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence arrested an importer from Amritsar in connection with 205.6 kg heroin seizure from a container near Kandla port in Gujarat, the probe agency said on Monday 25 April.
According to a senior police official,the contraband was recovered from one of the 17 containers which had arrived at the Kandla port from Iran between September and October last year.
Earlier on April 21, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad had announced that the DRI in a joint operation with the ATS seized over 200 kg of heroin worth ₹1,300 crore after conducting a raid at a container station near Kandla port in Kutch district of the state.
“Based on intelligence developed jointly with officers of the Gujarat ATS, officers of the DRI are currently examining a consignment, imported by an Uttarakhand-based firm at Kandla port,” said the DRI release.
The consignment arrived at the Kandla port from the Bandar Abbas port, Iran.
The consignment, imported in 17 containers having 10,318 bags, had a gross weight of 394 metric tonnes and was declared as “gypsum powder”, said the release.
“The importer was not found at the registered address in Uttarakhand.Accordingly, a manhunt was launched across the country to nab the importer,”said the DRI, which has not revealed the importer’s identity. The DRI conducted searches at various places across India to locate the importer, who was changing locations and hiding to evade identification.
He was eventually arrested from a small village in Punjab’s Amritsar under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The importer had tried to resist and flee, but he was nabbed by the DRI officers, said the release.
The DRI acquired his transit remand from a special court in Amritsar on Sunday. He was produced in a Bhuj court that sent to 10 days police remand on Monday.
