Six persons sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in 2017 drug haul case
In 2017, the Indian Coast Guard intercepted a cargo ship ‘Henry’ in a special operation carried out 388 kms away from the coast of Porbandar
Updated: Jan 31st, 2024
In a five-year-old drug haul case worth ₹4,500 cr, the Porbandar Additional District and Sessions Court has sentenced 20 years of imprisonment to six accused and 10 years to another four.
The court also imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh each on the six persons sentenced to 20-year imprisonment, out of the eight crew members who were on board the merchant vessel.
Sessions court judge PH Sharma passed the order on Jan 29, where Suprit Tiwari (27), Sanjay Yadav (27), Devesh (23), Munish Kumar (27), Vinay Yadav (27) and Munish Patel (19) have been sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment.
Those given 10-year jail terms include Sujit Tiwari (19), Vishal Yadav (24), Suleman Bhadela (47), and Saud Patel (26).
Notably, three out of the 13 accused in the case died during the pendency of the trial, and the case against them was abated.
The accused persons were punished under Sections 8(C), 21(C), 23(C), 25(C), and 29(C) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
What was the drug haul case in 2017?
On July 29, 2017, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) intercepted a cargo ship ‘Henry’ in a special operation carried out 388 kms away from the coast of Porbandar.
A total of 1,500 kg of heroin and ₹4,500 worth of chitta drugs (chitta includes heroin and other synthetic drugs) were seized by the ICG.
13 accused were arrested in the operation. Suprit Tiwari, captain of the ship, revealed that in the first week of July 2017, the owner of the ship ordered fabrication of the ship to hide the drugs in a water tank inside the ship, sealed by cement and welding.
The drug delivery mission was set off by Bihar resident Tiwari and seven other people on board. The orchestrator had promised a payment of ₹5 cr on the successful completion of the mission.
On the seizure of the ship, it was revealed that the owner of the ship was from Afghanistan.
The drugs were labelled in different packaging in order to be sent to various corners of the country.
