New Delhi, Feb. 7 -- The Indian Coast Guard busted an international oil smuggling racket on Friday through an intricate sea-air network.

According to an official release, the vessels involved devised a method to smuggle large volumes of cheap oil and oil-based cargo from conflict-ridden countries and profit by mid-sea transfer to motor tankers in international waters.

The syndicate consists of a network of handlers operating from various countries, coordinating the sale and transfer between seagoing vessels. Three vessels were intercepted by ICG ships, about 100 nautical miles west of Mumbai on Thursday, and through sustained rummaging, corroboration of electronic data onboard the suspect vessels, verification of documents and interroga...