Paradip cocaine seizure: Divers hunt for hidden contraband in ship's keel, hull

Bhubaneswar: The customs department and Odisha police on Monday deployed underwater divers to search for more illegal drugs possibly hidden in the keel and hull of a cargo ship from where 22 packets of Cocaine were seized on December 1.

While it is alleged that the crew members are involved in the smuggling, the investigators have been questioning the crew for the last 11 days to ascertain any links with Odisha.

If reports are to be believed, at least 10 persons are under the scanner of the probe agencies which includes three Vietnamese crew members of the ship, six crane operators of Paradip port, and a managerial-level employee of a stevedoring agency.

However, the customs and police are yet to make any statement on the probe.

The customs officials had seized 22 packets of cocaine worth a market value of Rs 220 crore from the cargo ship, MV Debi, anchored at Paradip Port.

As per reports, the ship arrived at Paradip from Indonesia’s Gresik port and was scheduled to depart for Denmark carrying steel plates from Odisha.

However, a crane operator first noticed some suspicious packets in the ship and informed the authorities who came with a dog squad and seized the packets which turned out to be Cocaine.

The customs department has roped in two Vietnamese language interpreters after the language barrier reportedly hampered the ongoing probe.

At first, the cocaine packets looked like explosive devices. But after the officials scanned the packets, it was revealed that it was drugs concealed in small rectangular packets.

As per sources, the investigating team was facing difficulties while grilling the crew members of the seized MV Debi ship as they were unable to understand English which was a major barrier during the investigation process.