Bengaluru:
India’s largest port operator Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS) said on Monday that its terminals would no longer handle export and import of container cargoes from Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan from Nov. 15.
The decision comes weeks after Indian officials seized nearly three tonnes of heroin originating from Afghanistan worth an estimated 200 billion rupees ($2.65 billion) from two containers at western Gujarat’s Mundra Port, run by Adani Ports.
On the seizure, Adani Ports had said that port operators are not allowed to examine containers and the company has “no policing authority over the containers or the millions of tonnes of cargo” that passes through the terminals at its ports.
Most of the world’s opium and heroin comes from Afghanistan, despite major efforts by the United States to combat the drugs trade.
Iran and Pakistan are major smuggling routes and huge markets for Afghan drugs.
Courtesy: REUTERS