Coast Guard and Gujarat ATS say they seized 526 kg of drugs from an Iranian dhow

The Indian Coast Guard says that, with the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad, it seized 526 kg of methamphetamine and heroin from an Iranian dhow west of Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea. Five Pakistani nationals operating the vessel were detained. The Hindu, citing PTI, Hindustan Times and the Times of India carried that account on Wednesday, 30 September 2026. This report follows those three. It does not add a port the boat came from, a syndicate, or a city the drugs were heading to.

The quantity is the figure the three share. 526 kilograms. The drugs named are methamphetamine and heroin. The vessel is an Iranian dhow. The place is the Arabian Sea, west of Lakshadweep. The Hindu's PTI report, Hindustan Times and the Times of India all state that seizure. A different weight in a smaller outlet was not used, because these three agree on 526 kg.

The rupee number is the Coast Guard's own estimate. The Hindu, Hindustan Times and the Times of India attribute "more than ₹3,000 crore" to the Coast Guard or to officials. Hindustan Times and the Times of India say that sum is "in the international market". It is not a valuation by a court. It is not a price this newsroom calculated. The sentence that can be printed is the one the agency gave, and it stays attached to the agency.

The five people are detained, in the wording this report keeps. The Hindu, via PTI, and the Times of India say five Pakistani nationals operating the vessel were detained. Hindustan Times says they were held, in its account of what it called a smuggling attempt. "Held" and "detained" are the papers' words for the same step. This report uses detained. It does not say arrested, and it does not say convicted. The sources checked do not report a charge, a court date, or a judicial finding. Calling the five smugglers would be a conclusion those sources have not delivered.

The calendar has two dates, and they are not the same event. The operation was on 25 September 2026. The public announcement was on 30 September. The Hindu reported that the Coast Guard said, in a statement, that the operation was on 25 September. Hindustan Times quotes the statement with 25 September 2026. The Times of India reports an operation on 25 September. One other outlet's "Tuesday" was not used. The three papers used here put the operation on the 25th and the announcement on the 30th. The statement reached the public five days after the operation.

After the seizure, the reports say, the dhow, the crew and the drugs were escorted to Mumbai for joint interrogation. The Hindu, Hindustan Times and the Times of India report that escort. Joint interrogation is the next step those accounts describe. It is not a charge sheet. It is not a court order. No such document is reported in the sources used here.

The same three papers describe how the agencies say they found the dhow: sea and air surveillance on intelligence inputs, a hot pursuit, and a boarding. That is the Coast Guard account of the method. This report does not add a weapon or a minute-by-minute of the boarding.

No syndicate is named, and no destination city is named. A Coast Guard line about international drug syndicates was the agency's claim about motive, and it is not used. A line about stopping drugs from reaching the mainland was an attributed aim, not a confirmed destination. Promotional phrases in the statement are not used. An April 2025 Coast Guard and Gujarat ATS seizure of 307.5 kg, noted by the Times of India, is earlier background, not this haul. A later Gujarat ATS briefing had not been seen, so nothing from it is here.

What's next

The dhow, the five detained nationals and the drugs are in Mumbai for joint interrogation, on the Coast Guard account carried by The Hindu, Hindustan Times and the Times of India. Those sources do not report a charge or a court finding. The figure of more than ₹3,000 crore remains the Coast Guard's estimate of the international-market value.