Pakistan Navy foils drug smuggling bid

KARACHI: The Pakistan Navy has foiled a major drug smuggling attempt in the North Arabian Sea, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Tuesday.

In a statement issued here, the ISPR said that the Pakistan Navy ship PNS Aslat seized a large quantity of narcotics in the North Arabian Sea during a regional maritime security patrol.

“The seized drugs are worth thousands of dollars in the international market. The successful operation against drug smuggling is the result of effective surveillance at sea by Pakistan Navy,” the statement added.

The ISPR said that the ships of the Pakistan Navy regularly perform duties on Regional Maritime Security Patrol to prevent drug smuggling, piracy and human trafficking at sea.

Earlier on May 20, the Airport Security Forces (ASF)  thwarted a drug smuggling bid and arrested a Dubai-bound passenger at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi.

The ASF officials claimed to have arrested a passenger, named Mohammad Ahsan, traveling to Dubai from Karachi airport and recovered a total of 2.28 kg of ICE heroine and 420 grams of brown heroine from his possession.

The drug was expertly hid in a dough kneading machine, but the ASF staffers foiled the smuggling attempts by recovering the drugs during the search of the goods.

The ASF officials after initial investigation handed over the arrested accused along with the seized drugs to the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) officials.