Libya: Police pounce on drugs stamped with Putin portrait

Libya's anti-drug squad on Monday announced the discovery of 323 bars of hashish wrapped with images of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The 250-gram bars were found in Al-Marj in the country's northeast, an anti-drugs authority official told AFP.

The bars were reported to have washed up on a beach and been discovered by a local resident.

Pictures of the pot cache were passed around on social media, each bar wrapped in cellophane and topped with a photograph of the Russian leader with a grim expression and black tie.

Photos of famous people and logos of large companies often decorate packages of smuggled drugs, according to the Libya Observer.

Just a few days before the Putin discovery, large amounts of hashish washed up on beaches in Talmitha and Boutraba. 

The packages were stamped with pictures of the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

Drug and alcohol trafficking have exploded since Libya collapsed into lawlessness after a 2011 revolt that toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi