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announced they had discoveredÌý323 stamped with a pictures of the Russian President Vladimir Putin on Libya's eastern shores, the local monitor The Libya Observer Ìýon Saturday.

The hashish wasÌýfound on a beach by a local resident. It follows a similar finding that took place a few days ago.

TheÌýbars of hashish wereÌýstamped with pictures of the famous ColombianÌýdrug lord Pablo Escobar and washedÌýashore nearÌýtwo other towns in eastern Libya.

Bars of hashish drugs sealed with the photo of president Vladimir Putin washed ashore in east .

— The Libya Observer (@Lyobserver)

The near-simultaneousÌýfindings 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, Libyan authorities seized 71.95 tonnes ofÌýÌýat an estimated market value of 1.79Ìýbillion Libyan dinars ($238 million).

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.

An August 2021 investigation byÌýAl-Araby Al-Jadeed,Ìý°®Âþµº'sÌýArabic-language sister publication, shed light on aÌýlarge drug-smuggling network between Syria and Libyan ports involving operatives allegedly closely linked to warlord Khalifa Haftar, eastern Libya's military leader.

Libya has also become a transit point for growing quantities of smuggled from Syria and heading to North African and European markets via the Mediterranean.

Large quantities of the drugs have been seized there and in Egypt over the past few months.