Whopping Rs 220 cr cocaine seized from ship at Odisha’s port town Paradip

Bhubaneswar: The Customs department has seized at least 22 kg of cocaine from a ship berthed at Odisha’s Paradip port on the intervening night of November 30 and December 1.

The Panama registered ship, MV Debi, berthed at the International Cargo Terminal of Paradip port yesterday night.

The ship had arrived Gresik port in Indonesia and it was supposed to travel to Denmark, sources said.

The Customs officials searched the ship and found 22 packets containing hardened but brittle white substance suspected to narcotic drugs.

The Special Intelligence and Investigation (SIIB) team of the Customs department examined the seized the substance and revealed that it could be cocaine, a narcotic drug under NDPS Act, 1985. The market value of the seized narcotic drug is stated to around Rs 220 crore, sources said.

“The ship is being operated the Asia Pacific Shipping Corporation Limited and all its crew members are from Vietnam. The narcotic drug seized from the ship will be sent to a government laboratory to ascertain its exact nature of and chemical composition. Further investigation into the case is underway,” said an official.

Earlier, there were reports that the Customs department had seized around 5 kg brown sugar from the ship.