Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials have said that the drugs seized in the what is believed to be the largest-ever drug haul off the Kerala coast, belong to the Pakistan-based Haji Salim cartel.

Around 2500 kilograms of methamphetamine (meth) was seized on Saturday (13 May) in a joint operation by the NCB and the Indian Navy from a ship in the Arabian Sea.

The consignment has been estimated to be worth Rs 15000 crore.

According to media reports, the ship's crew is believed to have sunk the vessel and fled in boats. A Pakistani national, who is to be produced in court today (15 May), was arrested after chasing one of these boats.

The Navy is continuing its search for the other crew members.

The seizure is a part of Operation Samudragupt that has been launched to make the Indian Ocean region free of narcotics.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had earlier arrested nine persons from the special camp for Sri Lankan refugees in Tiruchirapalli.

All of them were allegedly hand in glove with Salim and connected to the March 2021 drug seizure off the Vizhinjam coast. They aimed to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a terrorist organization using the proceeds of crime.

In March 2021, near Kerala’s Vizhinjam port, the Indian defence forces had intercepted a boat that contained 300 kg of heroin, five AK-47 machine guns, and 1,000 rounds of 9 mm bullets.