Koraput: An inter-state drugs trafficking racket was busted in Odisha’s Jeypore town, with brown sugar worth Rs 40 lakh seized and six persons, including a woman, arrested, police said Monday.
Acting on a tip-off, police intercepted a four-wheeler Saturday and recovered more than 3,700 small packets, each weighing less than a gram, along with 11 packets containing 10 grams of brown sugar each, Jeypore SDPO Archita Mittal said.
Police also seized Rs 20,000 in cash, eight mobile phones, and a ‘bhujali’ and a knife from the accused, she said.
Preliminary investigation suggests that the contraband was sourced from Khurda and Nayagarh districts and transported to Jeypore for distribution in the region, she added.
The SDPO said the drug was allegedly sold in small packets priced at around Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 each.
One of the arrested persons, Rama Chhatriya alias Ramu, 35, a resident of Jeypore, is allegedly a local drug supplier. He was arrested by Jeypore Town police around two months ago in another brown sugar case involving a smaller quantity, Mittal said.
“We apprehended him again while he was allegedly procuring the contraband. This time the quantity is commercial, which attracts stringent provisions of the NDPS Act,” she said.
The other accused have been identified as Prakash Kumar Chhula Singh, 52, Shaikh Aali, 26, Satya Priya Pattanaik, 49, of Khurda, Alok Chetty, 29, of Koraput, and Sarojini Barada alias Ranu, 36, of Nayagarh.
Police said several of the accused have criminal antecedents, including cases related to murder, dacoity and theft.
“Preliminary interrogation revealed that it was a well-coordinated racket and provided leads about other persons involved in the supply chain. Efforts are underway to trace the wider network,” Mittal said.