Cleanliness drive leads to ‘Afghani charas’ worth ₹42 lakh in Alibaug beach

NAVI MUMBAI: The nationwide cleanliness drive on Sunday led to 10 packets of charas, 11.8 kg, worth ₹42 lakh at Varsoli Beach in Alibaug. According to the police, the packets are similar to the ‘Afghani Charas’ that had washed up on Raigad beaches in August and September.

The latest discovery was made when Dr Bharat Bastevad, CEO of Zilla Parishad in Raigad, and his team, along with various NGOs undertook a cleanliness drive at Varsoli beach at 9am.

“Some volunteers found 10 plastic packets in a nylon gunny bag along the beach. They felt suspicious about the content of the packets and hence informed Raigad police superintendent, who instructed us at Alibaug police to look into the matter,” Shirish Pawar, senior inspector, Alibaug police station. “The packets had pictures of eagles and snakes within a circle on them, along with ‘Afghan Product’ and ‘1,150 GM’ printed next to them. There was some Urdu script also printed on it.”

He added that the pouches were similar to those found with drugs on the beaches of Raigad at Shrivardhan, Revdanda, Aakshi, Ratnagiri and also in Gujarat earlier.

The police seized and registered a case at the Alibaug police station under the NDPS Act 1985 sections 8(C), 20 (B)(ii), 22(C).