Coastguard and customs officials from Mauritius seized a large cache of cannabis on board a livestock carrier on Saturday.
The raid took place as the 1,000-dwt LSS Success (built 1970) was arriving at Port Louis from East London, South Africa with 626 head of cattle.
It was intercepted by the coastguard outside the port and escorted to a secure berth, where an extensive search was conducted.
The search revealed that in addition to the cattle, the ship was carrying 39 kg of cannabis, including cannabis resin and cannabis paste.
The haul, concealed in seven packages and 99 syringes stashed in a crew cabin, was estimated to be worth MUR 31m ($780,000).
Four crew — three from India and one from Tanzania — were detained by police as part of investigations.
RTSS Maritime Services, the ship’s Dubai-based owner, was not implicated. The company could not be reached for comment on Monday morning.
The coastguard’s actions against the ship prior to its arrival in port suggest that the authorities were acting on a tip-off.
The ship is the second livestock carrier to have been subjected to a narcotics raid recently.
The Spanish Navy seized the Jordanian-owned, 6,400-gt Neameh (built 1979) in May while it was transiting the Gibraltar Strait on a voyage from Cartagena, Colombia, to Damietta in Egypt.
Spain’s National Court had ordered the ship’s seizure after drug enforcement agencies received a tip-off that it was potentially being used to smuggle cocaine.
The ship was released after an extensive search in Algeciras failed to find any illicit substances.
