Bargarh: Odisha police have busted an inter-state ganja smuggling racket by making a seizure of 1,914 kilograms of cannabis in Odisha’s Bargarh district Thursday, along with a banned drug substance, valued at Rs 10 crore.
The seizure was made in the Jharbandh police station area along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border after a goods carriage carrying contraband was intercepted. The banned substances were being smuggled from Patnagarh to Raipur city in Chhattisgarh.
The seized cannabis was of high-grade quality, and its value on the black market is estimated at Rs 50,000 a kilogram.
Five drug peddlers have been arrested. An investigation is underway to gather vital clues about the gang’s modus operandi. A drive has also been launched to nab the accomplices and to trace backwards and forward linkages.
Bargarh Police is committed to zero tolerance against drug trafficking, said Superintendent of Police, Bargarh, Prahlad Sahai Meena.
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The contraband smuggled from different parts of the state, either by road or rail, makes its way to southern and northern parts of the country by a well-oiled racket of middlemen.
Despite the crackdown on drug traffickers and seizure of a huge cache of banned substances at periodic intervals, it is widely believed that money-spinning trade continues to flourish in the state due to the alleged nexus of both the excise and police personnel with the drug peddlers.
