CBI Inquires About Activities of Vizag Seafood Exporters

Visakhapatnam: CBI officials from Delhi are verifying with sea food exporters in Andhra Pradesh on their activities, such as exports and imports, clients, mode of payment to tie the loose ends of their case related to the seizure of cocaine and other narcotics laced with dry yeast from a container at Visakhapatnam Container terminal here recently.

“My office staff received a call from a CBI official. He wanted to know where we are exporting seafood and whether we are importing any goods related to seafood or shrimp feed,’’ said a leading exporter based in Visakhapatnam.

There are around 120 seafood exporters based in Visakhapatnam and it was unknown how many of them received calls from the CBI officials. Sources in the industry said there are companies which are involved only in the export of seafood, while some are engaged in both cultivation and export. Some companies on the other hand carry out only aquaculture.

“They must be concentrating on cultivators, who often import raw material which include dry yeast. In fact, many companies have imported dry yeast from Brazil from the company in question. Sandhya Aqua Exports imported for the first time from Brazil,’’ said a source from the industry.

Shrimp feed import is a huge business in the country. Last year, there were 10,100 shipments of import involving 176 Indian importers and 251 suppliers. Most of the feed imports were from Vietnam, Taiwan and the United States.

Forensic lab reports are awaited from Pune, where the samples of dry yeast were sent. Preliminary tests conducted by NCB kits showed positive and the lab would provide the entire details of the content. Based on the lab reports, the CBI might take some people connected to the import into custody for further investigation.