The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) found a total of 2988.21 kg of Afghan heroin from Mundra Port. The DRI is an enforcement under the Union Finance Ministry. This happened in the Kutch district around 15th September. The port is run by Adani Ports and SEZ (APSEZ). The port business is under the Gautam Adani run conglomerate.
This group issued a clarification when asked about the seizure of almost 3000 kg of heroin in the Kutch district of Gujarat. The company said that it was only the operator of the port. Moreover, the company does not have the opportunity or the right to check the shipments arriving at the port.
The amount of heroin found was estimated to be worth Rs 21,000 crore. This was said by the officials. They told the media that the international market value of the seized heroin per kg was 5-7 crore rupees. This made the seizure the single largest seizure of heroin in India till now. It was also one of the biggest seizures across the globe. In a statement on Tuesday, the Adani group said, “The law empowers the Government of India’s competent authorities such as the Customs and the DRI to open, examine and seize the unlawful cargo. No port operator across the country can examine a container. Their role is limited to running the port.”
It further added, “We sincerely hope that this statement will put to rest the motivated, malicious, and false propaganda being run on social media against the Adani group. APSEZ is a port operator providing services to shipping lines. We have no policing authority over the containers or the millions of tonnes of cargo that pass through the terminals in Mundra or any of our ports.” After the seizure of the consignment, there were searches conducted by the DRI in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Chennai, Gandhigram, and Mandvi in Gujarat. Following this, two persons were arrested. The DRI also extended its scanner and found some involvement of some Afghan nationals. This was confirmed by the sources.
The importer firm was identified by the official sources as the Aashi Trading Company. It is allegedly run by the M Sudhakar and his wife G Durga Purna Vaishali. The police arrested the couple in Chennai a few days back. Then the officials brought them to Bhuj town in Kutch. On Monday, a special court for NDPS cases in Bhuj was opened for them. This court granted 10 days’ custody of these two people to the DRI. Meanwhile, the ED (Enforcement Directorate) has reportedly started a money-laundering probe into the recent seizure of a record nearly 3000 kg of heroin from two containers at the Mundra port in Gujarat. The official sources confirmed this on Tuesday. The sources also said that in the meantime, the federal agency will be studying the details of the case. They will be proceeding forward under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
