KOCHI: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has widened its probe into the seizure of a Sri Lankan fishing boat ‘Ravihansi’ which was found carrying heroin and AK-47 rifles off Vizhinjam coast. This after the investigation revealed that a Pakistan-Iran racket was involved in the incident.An official release of the NCB Chennai unit issued on Tuesday said investigations so far indicated that an unknown vessel carried the consignment of heroin and arms from Chabahar Port in Iran and handed it over to the Sri Lankan fishing boat in the high seas near Laks-hadweep.
Coast Guard had intercepted the Lankan boat on March 25. It was brought to Vizhinjam harbour and NCB Chennai Unit took over the custody of the boat and seized 300.323 kg of heroin along with five AK-47 rifles and 1,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition.
“Image of a flying horse was found on all the heroin packets. It is a usual practise of trafficking syndicates to brand their drugs. All the six Sri Lankan crew members were arrested and remanded to judicial custody,” the release said.
“There have been seizures of huge quantity heroin in the Arabian Sea by both Indian as well as other enforcement agencies which are believed to have trafficked by the same network. This seizure also unveils the nexus between narcotics trafficking and extremist elements,” it added.