The Congress on Saturday expressed shock at the frequent seizures of narcotics in Gujarat and wondered whether the drug mafia could flourish in such a big way without political patronage.

“This was not the first seizure,” Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, referring to the recent recovery of 90kg heroin, worth Rs 450 crore, from Gujarat’s Pipavav port.

“Drugs worth thousands of crores have been seized earlier. The question arises that, can the drugs mafia feel so emboldened without political patronage? How are these syndicates doing business so fearlessly?” she asked.

“After all, who is this person who is throwing the youth of our country into this menace? Why is Gujarat witnessing repeated occurrences?”

She added: “This consignment had come in the form of bales — they had come from Iran five months back and I congratulate the Gujarat anti-terror squad and the directorate of revenue intelligence who could seize it.

“But how and why is Gujarat becoming the epicentre for drug cartels and the drug mafia to make an invasion into this country? How did Gujarat, which is the land of the Mahatma and Sardar Patel, allow drug cartels to spread its roots? Questions will arise on the Prime Minister’s and the home minister’s conspicuous silence.”

Gujarat is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.

Shrinate recalled that on April 25, a boat was seized in Kutch with heroin worth Rs 280 crore, and in September 2021, around 3,000kg heroin worth Rs 21,000 crore was seized from Mundra port in Gujarat. Shrinate said: “In June, 25,000kg heroin worth Rs 175,000 crore went into the Indian market unchecked. In April 2021, heroin worth Rs 150 crore; in January 2020, 34kg heroin… the list goes on.”

“The menace is now very deeply entrenched and which is why, it’s important to ask, what action is the government taking? There was a trading company and two people, who were running that company, they happen to be a married couple, they were arrested. But what is it that the government has done since this has been brought to light by us, by their own agencies?”

The Congress demanded answers to several questions: “Why is the Prime Minister conspicuously silent on this? Do you believe, Mr Prime Minister, that drugs of this quantity can come into India unchecked, without political patronage?

“And because drugs are being seized at private ports, has the government got in touch with them? Has the government given them new guidelines on how to end this menace?”

Shrinate also asked what the Narcotics Control Bureau had to say about such massive recoveries.

“The Narcotics Control Bureau works in consonance with the Union home ministry. Why are there no answers about who is responsible for all this? We also urge the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of this matter and investigate who the people acting against India are, because this is a national security issue,” she said.