The Odisha Excise Directorate claimed to have made a seizure of illicit liquor, contraband, and other banned substances worth Rs 97.89 crore and put behind the bars as many as 22,355 bootleggers and drug peddlers in 2021.
“During the preceding year ending on 31 December, 2,70,107 cases were detected with the arrest of 22,355 persons and seizure of 732437 lits I.D.Liquor, 7820871 Kgs of Mahua Wash, 5503 lits Duplicate IMFL, 2034 litres of Non-Duty paid IMFL, 3671 lits Spirit, 21046 Kgs of Ganja, Brown sugar 9288.9 Grams, Cough Syrup 581 liters and 1532 of Vehicles. The value of the seizure is Rs.97.89 crore” a statement issued by the excise directorate on Sunday claimed.
The hemp or ganja plants illegally cultivated in 18,890 acres of land were destroyed by the joint effort of Excise and Police personnel in 8 major Hemp cultivated prone districts of Kandhamal, Boudh, Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Gajapati, and Ganjam.
The use of the technology of Drone camera is being adopted to identify the illegal hemp plant cultivation. Due to continuous enforcement activities, the figure of cases detected, persons arrested and seizures made were doubled in comparison to that of last year.