Over eight months after a cargo ship was seized by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at Visakhapatnam port in Andhra Pradesh on suspicion of carrying cocaine, the agency has closed the case as laboratory tests confirmed that the consignment only contained inactive dried yeast, a raw material used in making shrimp feed.
The opposition YSRCP has said that the CBI’s report has cleared the air and proven Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s allegations to be false. Naidu, who was the Leader of the Opposition when the consignment was seized, had .
In March, weeks ahead of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections and the Lok Sabha polls, CBI had seized the consignment shipped from Brazil to a seafood company called Sandhya Aqua Exports Private Limited. The CBI had alleged that it found the yeast to be just a diluent, possibly mixed with drugs like cocaine.
The development came days after Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) officially joined the NDA fold, and triggered a political slugfest. The TDP also made specific allegations linking Sandhya Aqua to YSRCP, while the YSRCP tried to link Naidu and BJP state president D Purandeswari to the same seafood company.
Former minister and YSRCP leader Gudivada Amarnath slammed Naidu over his “baseless allegations” after the CBI closed the case. Speaking to the media on Saturday, December 7, he said, “It has been a habit for Chandrababu to blame YSRCP for all issues. He had raised a hue and cry during the 2024 electioneering… He launched a false propaganda that a container with 25,000 kg of drugs had landed in Vizag to tarnish the image of the YSRCP government.”
He also questioned the delay in the CBI’s closure report, and asked, “Why did it take eight months for the CBI to tell the truth that the container has no drugs in it? We have been saying that YSRCP has nothing to do with the container from the day the news broke, and the CBI has now vindicated our stand. The malicious propaganda has been part of Chandrababu’s plan to scuttle the growing popularity of Vizag which has the potential of being a cosmopolitan city.”
According to , the office of the Principal Commissioner of Customs, Visakhapatnam, issued a statement on November 27, declaring that a closure report has been filed in the case after lab tests confirmed that the consignment contained inactive dried yeast. After the Court of Metropolitan Sessions Judge-cum-I Additional District Judge in Visakhapatnam accepted the report, the container was reportedly released as per the CBI’s instructions.
The consignment consisted of 1,000 bags, each with 25 kg of yeast. It was certified by Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply before being shipped from Santos Port, Brazil to Visakhapatnam Port via Germany’s Hamburg Port. CBI had said that Interpol officers from Germany tipped them off about the consignment, which led them to inspect some of the packages.
