Charas worth Rs 62 crore wash ashore in Gujarat in 10 days

As many as 115 packets of charas worth Rs 62 crore have washed up on the shores of Devbhumi Dwarka district in Gujarat in the last 10 days, police said on Sunday.

Taking cognisance of abandoned drugs found in the coastal areas in the past, the district police had launched an operation to look for packets that were dumped by smugglers mid-sea and got washed ashore, an official said.

In a search involving drone surveillance, a police team recovered 30 packets of charas, worth Rs 16 crore, near Javernagar on June 7, the police said in a release.

A packet was found near Mojap on June 10, while 10 more were recovered between Mojap and Shivrajpur villages the next day, it stated.

As many as 64 drug packets were found in different places near Chandrabhaga, Vachchhu and Gorij villages on June 15, the release said.

With this, the total number of packets found in the last 10 days reached 115, it stated.

A forensic examination ascertained that the contraband was charas, weighing 123.72 kg, and the total value of the substance was Rs 61.68 crore, the release said.

A special operations group (SOG) of Dwarka district and local police patrolled coastal villages and conducted awareness programmes for residents and fishermen, it stated.