Kochi: A special court in Ernakulam sentenced four Iranians to 29 years and three months and two others to 25 years and three months of rigorous imprisonment under five charges after they were caught with nearly 200kg of heroin on the high seas by the Indian Navy two years ago.

As the sentences will run concurrently, they will serve only 12 and 10 years, respectively, said Adv Sunil J, the special public prosecutor for the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which conducted the investigation.

The Additional Sessions Judge - VII V P M Suresh Babu on Monday, December 9, found Abdul Nazar (35), the skipper of the stateless ship, Abdul Ghani (29), Arshad Ali (65), Abdul Malik Aussarni (32), Rashid Baghfar (23) and Zunaid (20) guilty under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Fight accused Rashid Baghfar is from Chabahar and the rest are from Konarak, both in the Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran, said Adv Sunil.

The accused told NCB investigators that the heroin arrived in Iranian ports from Afghanistan. Pakistani drug mafia take over the consignments and use mules to smuggle them into India.

NCB officials said the drug mafia stays in touch with the mules over satellite phones and gives them directions on where to hand over the drugs in the high sea. The Navy's patrol vessel intercepted the Iranian boat while waiting for such instructions, they said.

The trial did not touch upon the source of the drug, said the special public prosecutor. The judge took a lenient approach while sentencing Arshad Ali and Zunaid, considering their age (above 63 and 18 at the time of arrest) and economic background. "I am of the view that imposition of minimum sentences is sufficient ... to meet the ends of justice," Judge Suresh Babu wrote in his order.

On October 6, 2022, the Indian Navy's offshore patrol vessel INS Sunayna spotted Abdul Nazar's boat without a flag in Indian waters. INS Sunayna's Lieutenant Chris P John inspected the boat and found 200 packets -- each weighing nearly 1kg -- of contraband in the engine room and smaller quantities of opium and cannabis in the pantry room. The Navy also found 28.5 lakh Iranian rials, one satellite phone, three smartphones, two feature phones, four debit cards and cartons of cigarettes on the boats.

INS Sunayna escorted the boat to Mattancherry wharf and handed over the six crew members to NCB Intelligence Officer Shyju M J around 9 pm. Chemical analysis found that the contraband found that they were transporting 199.45kg of heroin.

The commercial quantity of heroin is 250gm, said Adv Sunil. The analysis also found that the contraband included 50gm of hashish (small) and 400gm of opium (intermediate quantity).

Advocates Muhammed Sabah, Libin Stanley, Mahin Hamza M, and Gayathri R, who represented the accused, argued that the Iranians were fishing in the sea and, because of bad weather and technical defects, got stranded in the sea, and they were framed by the Navy and the NCB.

They also pointed out that there was no evidence of the safe custody of the contraband allegedly seized from the boat by the naval officer or produced before the magistrate or when it was sent for chemical analysis.

They said the contraband was produced before the magistrate on October 8, 2022, but the inventory was certified on October 10. There was no evidence to prove the safe custody of the contraband during the period. The sample was collected on October 11 but reached the lab only on October 13, which pointed out that procedural safeguards were violated.

However, the judge overruled their concerns by saying that there was nothing to disbelieve in the evidence presented by a responsible officer, a lieutenant in the Indian Navy. "No one can expect the crew members of INS Sunayna, who are responsible officers of the Indian Navy, will tamper with the contraband while the ship was at sea," the judgment said.

Abdul Nazar, Abdul Ghani, Abdul Malik Ausaarni, and Rashid Baghfar were sentenced to 12 years for transporting a commercial quantity of manufactured drugs and another 12 years for smuggling narcotic drugs into India under Section 21 (c) and Section 23 (c) of the NDPS Act. They were also sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment for shipping in opium under Section 18 (c) and three months for transporting small quantities of cannabis under Section 20 (b) (ii) (A) of the NDPS Act.

In all, the four were fined Rs 3.25 lakh each, and if the fine is not paid, they will have to serve another nine months in prison. Arshad Ali and Zunaid were sentenced to 10 years each under Section 21 (c) and Section 23 (c) of the NDPS Act and five years and three months under Sections 18 (c) and 20 (b) (ii) (A) of the NDPS Act. They were also fined Rs 2.25 lakh and if the fine is not paid, they will have to serve another nine months in prison.

They are happy with the verdict, said Adv Sunil. "One of the accused was overhead telling the prison staff who brought them to court that if they were caught in Iran with 1kg of heroin, they would be facing the death sentence," he said.

Since the accused have been in judicial custody since their arrest two years ago, this will be deducted from the substantive sentence imposed on them. As a result, they will only have to serve ten and eight years in prison.