In the first case of cocaine seizure in Odisha, the Special Task Force of crime branch arrested two interstate drug peddlers and recovered 202 grams of the banned substances near Xavier crossing in Bhubaneswar.
This is the first case of seizure of cocaine in Odisha. Unlike cannabis and brown sugar which are prepared from opium, cocaine is not produced in India. Cocaine is produced from the Coca plant which is a native species of South America. It is mainly produced in Latin American countries like Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia and consumed mainly in the United States of America and Europe. The estimated cost of the seized drugs will be around Rs 60 lakh to Rs 70 lakh, said Deputy Inspector General of Police, STF, Mr. Jai Narayan Pankaj.
The arrested drug peddlers identified as Ravi and Sunny Kumar are natives of Rajasthan. They were staying in a rented house in Saliasahi slums and were operating the drug peddling from Bhubaneswar. Booked under sections 21(c)/29 of the Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act 1985, they were later remanded to judicial custody.
The principal accused Ravi used to trafficking cocaine in different areas of Delhi, procuring from a bigger cocaine trafficker in Delhi. He belongs to Rajasthan and his relatives are in Punjab also. He owns a hotel in his native place in Rajasthan. He was in the travel business in Delhi since the Commonwealth Games times. Later, he dabbled in cocaine peddling to earn a fast buck. He speaks fluent English and has contact with many foreigners too.
The special drive against narcotic drugs is continuing. Since 2020, STF has seized more than 50 Kg of Brown sugar, 202 gram of cocaine, and more than 91 quintals of cannabis and arrested more than 137 drug peddlers, STF officials concluded.