Pakistan Customs personnel in Gwadar on Sunday night foiled a bid to smuggle 8.5 kilograms of ice crystals within the country, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Monday.   

The Customs officials told media that the ice, which was recovered from hidden parts of a car in Uthul area, was valued at over Rs260 million. 

However, the officials said that the smugglers, taking advantage of the darkness, managed to disappear.

Collector Customs Gwadar Chaudhry Javed said that a hunt had been launched after the registration of an FIR against the unidentified persons and it was hoped that soon they would be in the custody of law-enforcement agencies (LEAs).

He said that the car was searched since there were reports that drugs were hidden inside it.  

Collector Customs further said that the department would continue its operations in order to eliminate smuggling from Gwadar and other parts of Balochistan. 

He went on to say that only in the ongoing month, the Customs personnel had seized narcotics worth Rs750 million in two major operations in Gwadar.  

Reporter Rizwan Saeed