JEYPORE: A special task force of Koraput police has busted a major inter-state narcotics smuggling syndicate, arresting 15 members and confiscating ganja worth Rs 3 crore in the last three days.
While nine of the arrested belong to Odisha, two each are from Maharashtra and Haryana, and one each from West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
Around 1050 kg of ganja has been seized in raids at different places of the district, police said.
Jeypore SDPO Sagarika Nath said the team had intercepted five vehicles in Jeypore, Machhkund and Nandapur areas and seized 1050 kg of contraband.
The accused were transporting the narcotic substance from border areas of Koraput and Malkangiri to outside Odisha, she said.
The SDPO said the special task force has been conducting anti-ganja operations in the tribal areas under the ‘Clean Green Mission-II’ and several smugglers’ gangs have been busted in the past few weeks.
The undivided Koraput district comprising Rayagada, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur and Koraput has become the gateway for the inter-state ganja smuggling.
34 smugglers held at Mathili
Continuing its crackdown on ganja smuggling in the district, police arrested 34 smugglers and seized 3,305 kg ganja during a raid at Mathili on Thursday night.
Of them, 17 are from Malkangiri, 10 from Nabarangapur, five from Koraput and one from Chhattisgarh.
On Wednesday too, a huge consignment being transported in vehicles by more than 100 smugglers was detected under Orkel police limits.
Though police intercepted them, they managed to flee by attacking the cops. A police personnel was injured in the attack and is undergoing treatment at Koraput hospital.
This year, the anti-ganja trafficking drive has resulted in the registration of 48 NDPS cases, seizure of 12,426 kg ganja and arrest of 104 smugglers.
Police have also seized 110 vehicles from different places of the district.