Indian Coast Guard busts int'l oil smuggling racket, captures 3 vessels in Arabian Sea
The smuggling syndicate was transporting cheap oil by seagoing vessels and transferring mid-sea to motor tankers in international waters.
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has busted an international oil smuggling racket through a meticulously planned sea-air coordinated operation in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai, India's business capital, on 5 and 6 February.
On 5 February, three suspect vessels were intercepted by an Indian Coast Guard ship approximately 100 nautical miles west off Mumbai. Sustained rummaging of the vessels, corroboration of electronic data recovered onboard, verification of documents, and detailed interrogation of the crew members enabled the ICG specialist boarding teams to establish the complete chain of events and confirm the criminal modus operandi, said a statement of the Ministry of Defence today (7 February).
The smuggling syndicate employed a modus operandi wherein cheap oil was transported by seagoing vessels and transferred mid-sea to motor tankers in international waters, it said.
Initial investigations revealed that the syndicate comprised handlers operating across multiple countries, coordinating the sale and transfer of cargo between vessels at sea.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The operation was initiated following detection by ICG's technology-enabled surveillance systems, which identified a motor tanker engaged in suspicious activity within the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), according to the statement.
A subsequent digital investigation and data pattern analysis of vessel movements led to the identification of two additional vessels converging on the tanker, suspected to be involved in illicit ship-to-ship transfer of oil-based cargo, thereby evading substantial duties owed to coastal countries, including India.
On confirmation of digital evidence through physical boarding on 5 February, all three vessels were apprehended.
Preliminary findings indicate that the vessels frequently changed their identities to evade detection by maritime law enforcement agencies. Initial investigations also suggest that the vessel owners are based in foreign countries.
The operation, initiated through advanced digital surveillance and enforced by the expanding maritime presence of the ICG, dismantled an intricate network involved in the illicit transfer of large volumes of oil and oil-based cargo originating from conflict-ridden regions, the statement said.
