Security agencies on Sunday arrested 14 Pakistani nationals off the Gujarat coast in a joint operation and seized 86kg contraband drugs — suspected to be heroin — worth around ₹600 crore from their possession, officials said.

The joint operation was carried out by the Indian Coast Guard, the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) Gujarat and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

A statement from the Indian Coast Guard said its ship, Rajratan, with the NCB and ATS officers on board, along with an aircraft, identified the suspect Pakistani boat and overpowered it.

“Indian Coast Guard Ship Rajratan with ATS Gujarat and NCB in an overnight sea-air coordinated joint ops apprehends Pakistani boat in the Arabian Sea, west of Porbandar, with 14 Pak crew and 86kg contraband approx ₹600 crore,” the statement said.

According to sources, the Pakistani nationals tried to escape arrest by running their boat over the ATS officials, who in return opened fire on the boat crew. One of the crew members received bullet injuries.

The boat and its crew members were apprehended and are being brought to Porbandar for further probe.

Sources said Gujarat ATS officials received an intelligence input that Pakistani drug lord Haji Aslam alias Babu Baloch was trying to smuggle mephedrone drugs from Karachi port using fishing trawler Al-Raza between April 25 night and April 26 early morning and was to arrive closer to India’s International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) off
Porbandar coast.

The drugs were planned to be transported to Tamil Nadu via an Indian boat, with final delivery to a drug lord in
Sri Lanka.

“The joint team of Gujarat ATS and NCB boarded the vessel and during search recovered 78 boxes of contraband suspected to be heroin weighing 86kg and worth ₹602 crore in the international market,” said an official.