The Odisha police’s special task force (STF) nabbed a narcotics dealer from the Khurda district and confiscated brown sugar worth Rs 1 crore.
According to police, an STF unit raided the Havelipadia area on September 30 as a result of a tip-off and found 1 kilogramme and 150 grammes of brown sugar. A 23-year-old was also detained by the police in this connection.
“Since 2020, STF has seized more than 59 kg of brown sugar/heroin, 202 gm of cocaine, and more than 111 quintals of marijuana, and arrested over 50 drug peddlers,” an official statement said.
The Odisha Directorate of Excise recently released aggregated data that shows that between April 2022 and August 2022, authorities carried out several searches and confiscated ganja and brown sugar worth Rs 83 crore.
In comparison to the same period in the previous fiscal year (2021–2022), there has been a 110% increase in the seizure of NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) until August. Material from the NDPS valued at Rs 39.49 crore was seized between April and August 2021.
Brown sugar and ganja seizures have each climbed by 132% and 191%, respectively. In contrast to the 3,392 grammes of brown sugar seized in 2021 up until August, the state has captured 21,690 kg of ganja up until August 2022, compared to the 9,339 kg seized in 2021.
A 204% increase in NDPS cases has been recorded, going from 243 up to August 2021 to 739 up until August 2022.