Cocaine wasn’t for Mumbai: NCB

After initially suspecting that a part of the 200-kg cocaine consignment, seized from a cargo vessel at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Panvel on Saturday

After initially suspecting that a part of the 200-kg cocaine consignment, seized from a cargo vessel at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Panvel on Saturday, was to be unloaded in Mumbai, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials today said that the entire cocaine was headed for a foreign country.

‘‘Mumbai was not the final destination. The container containing cocaine—the NCB had information that the drug was hidden in 13 containers—was meant to be transported to a foreign country today. The other 12 suspect containers were meant for Mumbai,’’ said NCB Director General K C Verma, adding that though the bureau hasn’t recovered cocaine from the rest, it is carrying out further scans.

Refusing to disclose the name of the country where the cocaine was headed for, he said: ‘‘We are closely coordinating with the enforcement agencies of that country.’’ He didn’t divulge the names of the consigner and the consignee also.

Talking about the progress in the investigation, he said, ‘‘No arrests have been made yet. But we are interviewing some people of Indian nationality, who are not crew members. We have recorded the statement of the vessel’s captain but since the drugs were not hidden anywhere on the ship, he is not liable in any way.’’

The consignment—the biggest haul in the Asian region and worth Rs 500 crore in the international market—came from Ecuador on the Maersk-owned SL Voyager. It made a stopover at Hong Kong before docking here. When asked whether India was becoming a major transit point for drugs, Verma said, ‘‘India is a transit route for South East Asian countries, but the amount of cocaine seized in India over the years is significantly low compared to other places.