KARACHI/QUETTA: In a major joint operation, the Pakistan Navy and the Excise & Anti-Narcotics Department Balochistan have recovered a large consignment of narcotics and foreign liquor worth approximately Rs31 billion from Gadani, officials said on Thursday.
According to Director General Excise Muhammad Zaman, the operation led to the seizure of 425 kilograms of ice (methamphetamine), 20 kilograms of hashish, and nearly 10,000 bottles and cans of foreign liquor and beer.
He said the recovered foreign liquor alone is valued at around Rs350 million, while the total international market value of the seized consignment stands at Rs31 billion.
The DG stated that the operation was conducted on special directives of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the Chief of Army Staff, and the Chief Minister of Balochistan.
He said smugglers were attempting to use international maritime routes to bring foreign liquor into Pakistan and transport narcotics abroad.
The seized narcotics and other items have been handed over to the South Zone of the Excise & Anti-Narcotics Department for further legal proceedings, he added.
Muhammad Zaman said the operation ranks among the largest in the history of the Excise and Anti-Narcotics Department Balochistan.
He further noted that during the past few months, drugs worth Rs25 billion and over 10,000 bottles of foreign liquor have also been seized.
He said poppy cultivation had been destroyed in several districts, including Duki, Qila Saifullah, Qila Abdullah, Chaman, Loralai, Kalat and Mastung, as part of efforts to make Balochistan a “poppy-free” province.
The Excise & Anti-Narcotics Department and the Pakistan Navy would continue joint operations against drug trafficking in the interest of national security and the protection of youth, he added.
