Drugs worth Rs 4,058 crore, liquor valued at Rs 211 crore seized in Gujarat by state agencies in last 2 years: Assembly told

PTI

Gandhinagar, March 11

Gujarat’s law enforcement agencies have seized narcotic drugs worth Rs 4,058.01 crore and liquor valued at Rs 211.86 crore in the state in the last two years till December 31, 2022, the government told the Legislative Assembly on Saturday.

More than 3 lakh persons were arrested for liquor and drugs related cases during this period in the state, where the sale and consumption of alcohol is prohibited, it said.

Vadodara topped the list among the districts with the seizure of Rs 1,620.7 crore-worth drugs and liquor in two years, followed by Bharuch at Rs 1,389.91 crore and Kutch at Rs 1,040.57 crore, the government said.

“The state’s law enforcement agencies seized drugs worth Rs 4,058.01 crore and liquor worth Rs 211.86 crore in two years till December 31, 2022,” Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi informed the House in reply to starred questions.

The sale and consumption of liquor has been prohibited in Gujarat since its formation in 1960.

The amount of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) seized stood at Rs 197.45 crore, beer Rs 10.47 crore, and country-made liquor Rs 3.94 crore. Together, agencies seized around 37 lakh bottles of liquor in two years, the data said.

The data relates to 25 out of the total 33 districts in the state.

In terms of the seizure of IMFL, Ahmedabad district topped the list. Rs 28.23 crore worth liquor was seized in the district two years, followed by Surat with Rs 21.42-crore, Vadodara Rs 14.61 crore, and Rajkot Rs 13.84 crore, it said.

A total of 3,39,244 persons were arrested with seized drugs and liquor in the last two years, while 2,987 others are wanted in these cases, the minister told the House.

In response to a separate question, Sanghavi told the Assembly that 184.99 kg of narcotics worth Rs 924.97 crore was seized by the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) from the state’s coastline and 32 Pakistani nationals, one Afghan and seven Indians arrested in this connection.

Further, 75 kg heroin worth Rs 375.50 crore was seized from Adani port at Mundra in two years till January 31, 2023 and two accused were arrested.

In September 2021, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), a central agency, had seized around 3,000 kg of heroin, believed to have originated in Afghanistan and worth about Rs 21,000 crore in global markets, from two containers at the Mundra port. It is said to be the single largest heroin haul in India so far.

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