Libyan authorities announced they had discovered 323 bars of hashish stamped with a picture of the Russian President Vladimir Putin on Libya’s eastern shores, Libya’s local monitor reported on Saturday.
The hashish was found on a beach by a resident. It follows a similar finding that took place a few days ago.
The bars of hashish were stamped with pictures of the famous Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar and washed ashore near two other towns in eastern Libya.
The near-simultaneous findings are likely linked to the sinking of a smuggler’s boat.
Large quantities of hashish are thought to be smuggled through Libya and its territorial waters: between July 2017 and December 2020, whilst Libyan authorities seized 71.95 tonnes of cannabis at an estimated market value of 1.79 billion Libyan dinars approximately $238 million US dollars.
This represents a portion only of the vast quantity of drugs thought to circulate through Libya, with the backing of warlords who generate profit from this illicit economy.