Maharashtra: 175 more packets containing charas found at beaches in Raigad in two weeks, say police

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As many as 175 packets containing 209 kg charas washed ashore at different beaches in Raigad district of Maharashtra in the last two weeks, police said, according to the PTI.

The cost of charas found in these packets is Rs 8.36 crore," said Raigad Superintendent of Police Somnath Gharge, reported the PTI.

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175 packets of charas were found washed ashore at different beaches in Raigad district in last two weeks. A case has been registered at Shrivardhan police station.

The investigation is on to ascertain the source of these packets and how they washed ashore," a release said.

The packets bear "Pakistan Premium Quality Rice" labels.

These packets were found on beaches at Jeevana Bandar, Maral, Serve, Kondivali, Dive Agar-Adgao, Akshi, Nanivali, and Shrivardhan Beach.

Notably, police had found 107 packets of charas worth Rs 4.50 crore at various sea fronts in Raigad district from August 27 to August 29.

Separately, the Customs department had seized more than 250 kg of hashish washed up on seven beaches in Ratnagiri district between August 14 and August 19, officials had said.

Gharge said police have already stepped up vigil on the Raigad coast but still new packets containing contrabands are being found at regular intervals.

Meanwhile, Earlier, the arrest of a villager from the coastal belt of Raigad in Navi Mumbai led the Customs department and the police from Ratnagiri, Raigad and Gujarat to 500 kg of drugs that washed ashore. In the last two weeks, police in the coastal belt and the customs have landed upon a series of drug packets that get washed ashore every second day. The packets have Pakistan and Afghanistan printed on them, the police said. According to the police, they began finding the packets in the second week of August, when the Navi Mumbai Crime Branch laid their hands on the villager.

Sleuths of Central Unit, Navi Mumbai police, received a reliable tip early in the morning of August 9 about a person in his 30s arriving at Bonkode village in Koparkhairane with hashish (charas). The team laid a trap and arrested Rahil Abdul Rashid Ghansar, 32, hailing from Karde village, Dapoli, Ratnagiri. The team had recovered 2.70 kg of hashish from him.

(with PTI inputs)