Bhubaneswar, Dec 1 : Bhubaneswar Customs officials on Friday seized more than 20 kg of cocaine valued at approximately Rs. 220 crores from a ship berthed at Paradip Port.
Bhubaneswar Customs (preventive) Commissionerate had searched a ship MV Debi, a Panama registered Ship, berthed at Paradip International Cargo Terminal, Paradip on the midnight of November 30 and December 1.
The search was carried out on the basis of an intelligence input that few suspected packets, likely to be Narcotics drugs, are concealed in the ship which had arrived from Gresik port, Indonesia in ballast.
During the search, a total of 22 packets (wrapped and affixed with magnet) were recovered from the cranes of the ship containing a hardened but brittle white substance suspected to be narcotic drugs.
Initial testing by the Special Intelligence and Investigation (SIIB) team of the Bhubaneswar Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate revealed that the substance is possibly Cocaine, a narcotic drug under the NDPS Act 1985.
A total of 22 kg of such drugs valued at around Rs. 220 crores in the international grey market were recovered.
All the crew members working onboard the ship are from Vietnam. The ship is registered in Panama and is operated by the Asia Pacific Shipping Co. Ltd.
The suspected ship is having its last port of call from Gresik Port, Indonesia and destined to Denmark.
The suspected cocaine samples will be sent to government laboratory to ascertain the exact nature and chemical composition of the goods.
Further rummaging and searching of the ship with the help of sniffer dogs is underway, the customs officials said.