Coast Guard seizes Ketamine drug worth Rs 300 crore from Myanmarese ship

New Delhi: The Indian Coast Guard has seized a huge cache of ketamine drug worth Rs 300 crore from a Myanmarese ship, the agency said on Saturday.

The Coast Guard, in a coordinated sea-air operation on Thursday, apprehended the ship off the Car Nicobar islands.

On rummaging the vessel, 57 suspicious gunny bundles were found aboard, the Coast Guard said.

The gunny bags were then transferred to Indian Coast Guard Ship Rajveer, which has apprehended the ship.

In a joint investigation by the Narcotics Control Bureau and the local police, it was revealed that suspicious substance in the gunny bags was ketamine, a psychotrophic substance, and there were 1,160 packets of 1 kg each worth Rs 300 crore in the international market, they said.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the Coast Guard for apprehending the ship.

"Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh has congratulated the ''ICGS Rajvir'' team for confiscating a huge cache of narcotics in boat near Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

"The NCB team has reached Port Blair and identification of the confiscated drugs is being done by them. @IndiaCoastGuard.

@IndiaCoastGuard seized drug Ketamine worth Rs 300 crores from a Myanmarese vessel operating near Car Nicobar Islands. Further investigation is in progress by @IndiaCoastGuard, NCB & Local police @PMOIndia @DefenceMinIndia," Singh tweeted.