Bhuj: An Indian court in Gujarat on Wednesday convicted 19 foreign nationals, including 18 Pakistanis and one Afghan, in three cases involving the smuggling of heroin worth ₹575 crore. A special NDPS court sentenced all the convicts to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹2 lakh on each of them.
According to the prosecution, the convicts were caught while smuggling heroin through the coastal areas of Gujarat's Kutch district between 2020 and 2022.
After evaluating the evidence presented by the prosecution, the court concluded that the accused had targeted Indian youth by pushing them into drug addiction and observed that such an act could not be considered an ordinary crime.
The court noted that they were part of a well-planned conspiracy to weaken the nation's social fabric by supplying large quantities of narcotics.
Additional Sessions and Special NDPS Court Judge V A Buddha found all 19 accused guilty under Section 8(c) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and sentenced them to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment.
Section 8(c) of the NDPS Act prohibits the production, manufacture, possession, sale, purchase, transport, import, export or use of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance, except as permitted under the law.
The problem of narcotics does not remain confined to individuals but also becomes a national security concern as it directly affects the country's internal security, the court observed.
The case
The court delivered its verdict in three separate cases registered by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), all of which involved heroin being smuggled from Pakistan through the Arabian Sea and intended to be unloaded along the Jakhau coast in Kutch district.
Acting on intelligence inputs that a boat carrying contraband from Pakistan was heading towards the Jakhau coast, the ATS, in coordination with the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), intercepted a suspicious vessel on January 6, 2020. Five Pakistani nationals were found on board.
The agencies recovered 35 kg of heroin worth ₹175 crore from the boat. An FIR was subsequently registered, and the ATS filed a chargesheet. One of the accused died during the trial.
In the second and third cases, the ATS again acted on intelligence inputs and, along with the ICG, intercepted boats carrying narcotics worth hundreds of crores of rupees.
In the second case, the ATS and the ICG intercepted a suspicious boat on April 15, 2021, carrying eight Pakistani nationals and seized 30 kg of heroin worth ₹150 crore.
In the third case, the agencies intercepted another boat in the Arabian Sea on October 8, 2022, carrying six Pakistani nationals and one Afghan national. They seized 50 kg of heroin worth ₹250 crore.
All three cases were clubbed together for trial, and the convicted persons are currently lodged in different jails.
