Karachi: In one of the biggest drug hauls in Pakistan, coast guards have seized nearly 3,000 kilogrammes of hashish being smuggled to the Middle East where its market value is estimated to be around USD 50 million.
"It is one of our biggest successful drug raids and it was completed successfully near Pasni in the Baluchistan province," a senior coast guard official said on Tuesday.
"We also arrested three smugglers in the raid and took into custody two SUVs and an oil tanker," Major Zafar Ahmed told PTI.
He said the smugglers had concealed the hashish in secret chambers in the oil tanker and sport utility vehicles (SUVs).
Ahmed said the coast guards had to use heavy machinery to cut through the tanker to unearth the three tonnes of hashish.
If it had reached the Middle East market, we estimate its market value would have been close to USD 50 million, he said.
The coast guard official said two of the arrested smugglers were on the wanted list of the department.
Drug smugglers frequently use Pakistan as a key route to smuggle contraband like hashish and heroin out of neighbouring Afghanistan to the Middle East countries and Europe.
Afghanistan is said to produce 90 per cent of the world's opium supply, an estimated third of which transits through Pakistan.
