200 kg India’s biggest cocaine haul at Mumbai port

In what law-enforcement authorities say is the biggest ever cocaine haul in India, the Narcotics Control Bureau today seized 200 kg of the drug from a cargo vessel at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Panvel, about 65 km from Mumbai.

In what law-enforcement authorities say is the biggest ever cocaine haul in India, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) today seized 200 kg of the drug from a cargo vessel at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Panvel, about 65 km from Mumbai.

Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau K C Verma told The Sunday Express in New Delhi: “This is unheard of and is unprecedented. We have been working on this for the past one-and-a-half months.”

Officials said the cocaine is worth over Rs 90 crore in the local market. They said the ship owned by Maersk had come in from Hong Kong.

In early May, 142 kg of cocaine (worth about Rs 60 crore) was seized in Hong Kong and Guangdong, in neighbouring southern China, after a first ever joint operation conducted by agencies from US, Hong Kong and China for three months. The drug syndicate behind it was from Colombia and mainland China.

“The cocaine consignment meant for India was lifted from Colombia, taken to Hong Kong and brought to Mumbai,” said an official.

Ajit Patel, NCB Superintendent, said the seizure ‘‘followed a tip-off from international sources.’’

The ship S L Voyager anchored at Maersk’s exclusive jetty at the International Gateway on the southern side of JNPT this morning. Around 4 pm, before the cargo could be unloaded, 10 NCB officers of boarded the vessel.

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‘‘They were well-informed, they did not have any trouble in locating the one container that had the cocaine,’’ the NCB official said. Officials found canvas bags containing the drug, stashed between logs of teak.

Officials said a Mumbai-based firm, whose identity is not being revealed, had imported the teak, ‘‘which is the legal consignment.’’ No arrests have been made until late tonight.

In September 2005, the Mumbai Police made one of the biggest arms hauls from a container at the JNPT port.