Indian Coast Guard & Gujarat ATS seize 115 kg cocaine (₹1,150 crore) off Mundra coast in joint anti-smuggling operation

📌 Summary:

• Indian Coast Guard (ICG), jointly with Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), seized approximately 115 kg of cocaine during a joint intelligence-based anti-smuggling operation off the Mundra coast, Gujarat (25–26 May 2026)
• Estimated international market value: INR 1,150 crore
• Operation specifics: ICG Interceptor Boats with ATS personnel embarked; suspicious activity spotted on a container vessel; 5 bags recovered from the sea containing 115 packets of ~1 kg each of cocaine
• Vessel brought to port for further investigation
• This was the 15th successful joint anti-narcotics operation by ICG and ATS Gujarat in the last five years
• Reinforces ICG's maritime security mandate and the "Nasha Mukt Bharat" national vision
• Highlights Mundra (India's largest commercial port) as a high-risk node for narcotics trafficking, requiring deeper inter-agency coordination

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 — Maritime security, coastal security architecture, organised crime and narcotics interdiction; GS2 — Inter-agency coordination in internal security; GS3 — Border (sea) management.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• ICG = Indian Coast Guard; raised in 1977, statutory in 1978 under the Coast Guard Act, 1978; Armed Force of the Union under MoD
• Seized: 115 kg cocaine; estimated value ₹1,150 crore (international market)
• Location: Mundra coast, Gujarat (Mundra Port — India's largest commercial port by cargo, operated by APSEZ)
• Joint agency: Gujarat ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad)
• 15th joint anti-narcotics operation by ICG–ATS in the last 5 years
• Aligned with: Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan (NMBA) of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment

🔑 Key Term: Indian Coast Guard (ICG) — India's maritime law-enforcement and SAR agency under the Ministry of Defence, responsible for safety/protection of maritime interests, anti-smuggling, marine environment protection and enforcement of maritime laws within India's EEZ.