Cops recover 87 packets of charas washed up on sea coast in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: As many as 87 packets of charas have been recovered in Gujarat's Kutch and Porbandar districts after they got washed up on the sea coast in the last few days, police said on Monday, the latest in a series of such seizures in the state.

Of these, 81 packets of charas worth more than Rs 40 crore were recovered in Kutch district in the last three days -- 40 of them on Monday alone, they said.

Separately, police in Porbandar recovered half a dozen packets of the cannabis from the coastal village of Odadar on Monday.

More than 200 packets of narcotics have been found washed ashore in coastal districts of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Porbandar in the last few days as police intensified operations to search for them using drones and human intelligence.

Police recovered 40 packets of charas from near the sea coast in Mandvi taluka of Kutch district on Monday.

With this, the number of charas packets found from areas such as Nal Sarovar, Jakhau and Mandvi in the last three days has risen to 81 and are estimated to cost Rs 40 crore, Kutch (West) Superintendent of Police (SP) Mahendra Bagadiya said.

A few days ago, the Kutch police had also recovered abandoned packets containing banned drug methamphetamine.

Packets containing narcotic substances have washed ashore along with waves due to favourable wind conditions after likely being dumped by smugglers in the deep sea over fear of being caught, police said.

After the latest seizures, police have registered offences against unidentified persons under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The Devbhumi Dwarka police said on Sunday as many as 115 packets containing 124 kg charas worth Rs 62 crore were found washed up on the sea coast in the district over ten days.