Operation Samudragupt, Objective and Drug Trafficking Case

Operation Samudragupt

Operation Samudragupt was established by the NCB Director General to combat heroin and another drug trafficking in the Indian Ocean region. Sanjay Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General (Ops), NCB, headed the operation, which was comprised of officers from NCB Headquarters’ Operations Branch.

Operation Samudragupt is an important event that has happened recently and can be covered in the Current Affairs which is an important subject in UPSC Syllabus. Students can also go for UPSC Mock Test to get more accuracy in their preparations.

Operation Samudragupt in Details

The Indian Navy and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) are working together on Operation Samudragupt. The initiative was started in January 2022 to combat drug trafficking aboard ships coming from Pakistan and Afghanistan. A significant amount of drugs were successfully seized during the operation, and several drug dealers were also detained. It is a huge victory in India’s fight against drug trafficking.

Operation Samudragupt Objective

The major objective of the operation was to obtain useful information that could lead to the interdiction of ships carrying illegal substances. The team communicated with drug law enforcement agencies including DRI and ATS Gujarat as well as intelligence agencies like the Intelligence Wing of the Indian Navy and NTRO. The team also created a variety of domestic and foreign assets and employed technological interventions to give helpful intelligence.

Operation Samudragupt and Recent Events

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the Indian Navy worked together to undertake an operation off the coast of Kerala that resulted in the seizure of roughly 2,500 kg of methamphetamine. The drugs were estimated to be worth around 15,000 crore, making it the most expensive drug seizure ever made by an Indian anti-drug enforcement agency.

The drugs originated from Pakistan and were loaded into a mother ship off the coast of Makran. The ship’s suspected Pakistani-descent passenger has been apprehended, and other suspects are about to be taken into custody. The arrest is a result of Operation Samudragupt, a campaign to stop narcotics trafficking on ships in the Indian Ocean.

The information gathering and processing resulted in the identification of a very probable course that the mother ship would take. The mother ship is stopped by the drug traffickers at a predetermined location, at which point the crew on board is notified of the boat to which the drugs are to be discharged. The mother ship itself was seized, thus there is no information on any boats meant to receive the drugs.

The NCB received the collected items from the ship, the person who was apprehended, and the drugs at Kochi’s Mattancherry Wharf for further action.

Operation Samudragupt & Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine, or meth for short, is a potent and highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system and is used to treat narcolepsy, a sleep disorder, as well as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methamphetamine in the form known as “crystal meth” has the appearance of shiny, bluish-white rocks or glass fragments.

It shares chemical properties with amphetamine. After dissolving the powder in water or alcohol, methamphetamine can be smoked, ingested as a pill or tablet, snorted, and injected. Methamphetamine can induce stroke and myocardial infarction, which are both heart attacks. The kidneys, brain, and heart are all susceptible to the drug’s effects. It may cause an abrupt spike in blood pressure. Therefore, if there is an overdose, it is an extremely deadly drug.

Operation Samudragupt UPSC

The seizure of 286 kg of heroin and 128 kg of methamphetamine with the arrest of 19 drug dealers in two operations conducted by the Sri Lankan Navy in December 2022 and April 2023, respectively, and the seizure of 4 kg of heroin with the arrest of 5 drug dealers by the Maldivian Police in March 2023, were all made possible by NCB sharing real-time actionable information generated during Operation Samudragupt. Students can read all the details related to UPSC by visiting the official website of StudyIQ UPSC Online Coaching.

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