Twenty-two packets, wrapped and affixed with magnet, were recovered from the cranes of the ship MV Debi containing a hardened but brittle white substance suspected to be narcotic drugs, officials said on Friday.
Customs officials have seized more than 20 kg of cocaine from the Panama registered ship at Paradip Port.
The estimated market value of the confiscated material is approximately Rs. 220 crores, about USD $26,4 million.
The illicit cargo was concealed in the ship berthed at Paradip International Cargo Terminal, Paradip, that had arrived from Gresik port, Indonesia in ballast, in accordance with the GST, Central Excise and Customs Bhubaneswar Zone (Odisha) under the ministry of finance, government of India.
The customs officers searched the ship on midnight of 30.11.2023 and on 1.12.2023.
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.
The Mv Debi is a 37196 dwt bulk carrier, built in 2012, and all the crew members working onboard the ship are from Vietnam.
The authorities revealed in a statement that the ship is registered in Panama, and its last port of call was at Gresik Port in Indonesia. The vessel is operated by the Asia Pacific Shipping Co. Ltd and its destination is Denmark, they added.
The chief commissioner, GST, Central Excise and Customs, Bhubaneswar Zone in a press release said: “Based on intelligence that few suspected packets, likely to be Narcotics drugs are concealed in a Panama registered Ship, namely, MV Debi berthed at Paradip International Cargo Terminal, Paradip, that had arrived from Gresik port, Indonesia in ballast.”
The suspected cocaine samples are to be sent to govt 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.
