India’s largest port operator has suspended handling deliveries from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan effective from next month following the seizure of almost three tonnes of heroin.
Adani Ports, part of the Adani Group, said its “trade advisory” will apply to all the terminals it operates including third-party terminals from November 15.
The decision comes after India arrested six Iranian men over the seizure of nearly three tonnes of heroin from two containers at the Mundra port off India’s western coast in Gujarat state in September.
Despite executing hundreds of people each year for drug trafficking and possession, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has long been accused of running a lucrative business smuggling heroin, opium and methamphetamine to Asia, Europe, Africa and South America.
It is one of the largest source of hard currency for the country's elite forces due to the US sanctions on its foreign trade, especially oil exports.
Azerbaijan also recently restricted Iranian trucks heading to Armenia, a massive blow to the Islamic Republic's strategy to circumvent US sanctions to acquire much-needed dual-use goods they import via Armenian-registered shell companies and smuggle illicit drugs to the Black Sea, Russia and Europe. The move has angered Iran, which has since started military drills along its northwest border with Azerbaijan.
