New Delhi, Mar 12 (IANS): In an overnight joint operation on the intervening night of March 11 and 12, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) apprehended a Pakistani boat off the coast of Porbandar, Gujarat, with six crew members and narcotics valued at around Rs 480 crore on board.

The boat was apprehended about 350 km from Porbandar in the Arabian Sea in a sea-air coordinated operation involving ICG ships and Dornier Aircraft. The operation exhibited well-coordinated efforts between the ICG, NCB, and ATS Gujarat.

The ICG said that on specific intelligence inputs from the security agencies, the ICG strategically positioned its ships in the Arabian Sea on Monday.

The ICG also deployed its Dornier aircraft to scan and locate the boat in the likely areas. After an exhaustive search in the area, the ICG ships, accompanied by teams from the NCB and ATS Gujarat, arrived at the location and identified the boat, which was moving suspiciously in the dark.

On being challenged by the ICG, the boat tried to escape but was deftly chased and forced to stop by the ICG ships.

The boarding team immediately embarked on the ship for preliminary checking.

It was found to be a Pakistani boat with six crew members. After further searches, 80 kg of drugs worth about Rs 480 crore were recovered from the boat.

The boat, along with its crew, has been apprehended and brought to Porbandar for further investigation.

This was the 10th such apprehension by the ICG, in collaboration with the ATS Gujarat and NCB, in the last three years, leading to a total seizure of 517 kg of narcotics worth about Rs 3,135 crore.