Interstate narcotics racket busted, cannabis worth over Rs 1 crore seized in Balangir

Bhubaneswar: The Excise sleuths in Balangir district on Friday busted an interstate narcotics racket and seized ganja (cannabis) worth over Rs 1 crore from a truck. The Excise department officials have arrested two persons in this connection. The arrested have been identified as Navpreet Singh and Satnaam Singh.

As per reports, Navpreet and Satnaam, both drivers, were illegally transporting around seven quintals of ganja in the truck. The duo was reportedly trafficking the narcotic substance from Phulbani area of Odisha to Patna in Bihar.

The two accused persons allegedly hid the packets containing ganja inside large sacks of maize, reports said. “As per the documents collected from the two accused persons, the truck was supposed to bring maize from Patna to Phulbani. However, we found that they were carrying 12 quintals of maize and seven quintals of ganja from Phulbani area to Patna. The packets containing ganja were hidden inside large sacks of maize,” said an official of the Excise Department.

According to the official, the Excise sleuths were questioning the two arrested persons to know details about the source as well as the destination of the seized narcotic substance. “Our investigation is on to find out the involvement of any other individual/s in the interstate narcotics racket,” added the official.