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Italy seizes 13 tons of hashish on Panamanian-flagged ship

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    • Over six tons of hashish seized during a recent boarding placed on the flight deck of HMAS Darwin, prior to destruction. Hashish was contained in 306 hessian bags each containing approximately 20 one kilogram coffee bags, a sample of which can be seen on top. *** Local Caption *** HMAS Darwin is currently deployed to the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO). This is the 57th rotation of a Royal Australian Navy warship to the MEAO since the first Gulf War in 1990 and the 33rd deployment under Operation Slipper. Operation Slipper is the Australian Defence Force Contribution to the international campaign against terrorism, counter smuggling and counter piracy in the Middle East maritime security environment, an area of over 2 million square miles, encompassing the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman.

    Italian police has seized around 13 tons of hashish aboard a Panamanian-flagged ship identified as Munzur.

    Hashish is a cannabis product composed of compressed or purified preparations of stalked resin glands, called trichomes. It contains the same active ingredients as marijuana—such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other cannabinoids—but often in higher concentrations than the unsifted buds or leaves from which marijuana is made.

    The ship was boarded by Italian Air-Naval Command teams on Wednesday, some 10 miles northeast of the island of Pantalleria, near Sicily.

    Following an inspection of the cargo ship, the police found 500 packages of hashish weighing 13 tons.

    The ship was detained and taken to the port of Palermno where investigation is underway with the objective of determining the responsible parties.

    The ship’s crew of 11 members, of Ukrainian and Georgian nationality, have also been detained.

    The drug haul forms part of an international anti-drug trafficking operation known as Frontex, Tritor 2015.

    The 3,331 DWT ship was built in 2008 and is owned and operated by Anmar International Shipping Mersin from Turkey.

     

     



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