In a crackdown on drug peddlers in Odisha’s Cuttack district, the Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha police Crime Branch on Wednesday seized 152 kg of cannabis worth around Rs 15 lakh and arrested three traders, official sources said.
On the basis of intelligence input, a raid was conducted by a team of STF with the help of Cuttack District Police at Damagadia village under Badamba police station jurisdiction, and three drug peddlers were arrested.
Booked under the relevant sections of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS), the accused persons were forwarded to Badamba police, who later remanded them to judicial custody.
The cannabis seizure has gone up many folds in recent years. The STF has made a seizure of 6,762 kilograms of cannabis in the last one-and-a-half-year.
The cannabis locally called ganja routed through Odisha by organized drug syndicates is much in demand in other States because its price is on the lower side. While one kg of ganja is sold in the black market in Odisha at Rs 5000 to Rs 10,000, in Delhi and bigger cities, the contraband’s price shoots up to Rs 20, 000 ore or per kg depending on demand and supply, said Deputy Inspector General of Police, STF, Jay Narayan Pankaj.