KARACHI, March 14: Charas weighing 1,948 kilograms of was seized from a bungalow in North Nazimabad during a raid conducted by the intelligence branch of the Sindh Excise and Taxation Department, an official spokesman said here on Sunday.

The raid was conducted on Saturday night, he said, adding the charas was found inside a hidden storeroom. The spokesman said that the charas was meant to be smuggled abroad and it was worth around Rs2 billion in the international market.

The excise intelligence officials arrested three persons later identified as Mateen Kamal Ansar, Shamsur Rehman Pathan and Abdus Samad Pathan. A passport belonging to Shams was also seized during the raid, the spokesman said. It was learnt that Maten was the owner of the bungalow.