CBI seizes container suspected to have drugs at Vizag port

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) with the assistance of Customs Department, Visakhapatnam, has detained a shipping container suspected of having narcotics at Visakhapatnam Port.

The CBI said on Thursday that acting on input received through Interpol, it seized the container as part of its "Operation Garuda" against organised drug cartels on an international level.

According to the central agency, the container was booked from Santos Port, Brazil for delivery at Visakhapatnam, in the name of a consignee which is a Visakhapatnam-based private company.

The shipper had declared that the container contained 1,000 bags of inactive dried yeast of 25 kg each, totalling 25,000 kg.

"However, on preliminary examination, through narcotics substance detection mechanisms, it appears that the material shipped contains narcotic drugs mixed with the inactive dried yeast. The whole consignment has been seized, and an FIR has been registered against the consignee and unknown others," the CBI said.

The operation indicates the involvement of an international criminal network engaged in importing narcotics drugs by way of mixing them with other substances commonly known as cutting agents.