Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 27 December 2024
In a significant development, the Car Nicobar police seized 1.263 kilograms of suspected cocaine near the seashore behind the Mus Lighthouse on Thursday. The parcel, wrapped in plastic and marked with an emoji sticker and an image resembling the Brazil flag, was discovered by Suresh Kumar, the lighthouse in-charge at Mus Village, who promptly alerted the authorities.
At approximately 12:55 p.m., Suresh Kumar contacted Inspector D Jagdishwar Rao, SHO of PS Car Nicobar, reporting the presence of a suspicious parcel near the lighthouse premises. Kumar also shared photographs of the parcel, which led police to suspect it might contain contraband substances.
Upon receiving the report, Inspector Rao informed Mr. Solomon Samuel, SDPO of Car Nicobar, and recorded the information in the station’s General Diary. Following instructions from SDPO Samuel, a police team was immediately constituted to investigate the matter.
By 1:05 p.m., a police team comprising Inspector D Jagdishwar Rao, SI JR Krishna, HC S.S. Randhawa, PC Nizamudeen (videographer), PC Hari Krishna and PC(D) Prakash Rao departed for the Mus Lighthouse. They carried essential tools, including a Drug Detection Kit, electronic weighing machine, and investigation kit.
Upon reaching the lighthouse at 1:25 p.m., the team met Suresh Kumar and two security guards on duty—who agreed to act as independent witnesses during the seizure process. Shortly after, SDPO Samuel arrived on-site to oversee the operation.
The team was guided by Kumar to the spot where the parcel was found. The parcel, located behind the Mus Lighthouse at the seashore, was carefully picked up after documenting the scene through photographs and video recordings.
The suspicious package was cuboid-shaped, plastic-wrapped, and bore markings that included an emoji sticker and an image resembling Brazil flag. It was taken to an open hut near the lighthouse for further examination.
Upon puncturing the parcel with a sharp object, the team found a white crystalline substance inside, which emitted a pungent odour. A preliminary test using the Drug Detection Kit confirmed the substance to be cocaine.
The parcel was weighed using an electronic weighing machine, and its contents were found to total 1.263 kilograms. The cocaine appeared wet, likely due to seawater ingress.
The contraband was sealed on-site in the presence of the witnesses.
By 2:45 p.m., the team returned to the police station, where the seized contraband was handed over to the officer-in-charge of the station’s malkhana.
Police noted that similar instances of drug contraband washing ashore have occurred along the Car Nicobar coastline in the past. While the origin of the parcel remains uncertain, it is suspected that it was carried to the shore by ocean currents, as has been the case in earlier discoveries.
Given the quantity of cocaine recovered, the case falls under the “commercial quantity” category, constituting an offence under Section 22(c) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
This incident highlights the recurring challenges faced by law enforcement in curbing the entry of contraband into the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a remote yet strategically significant region.