Balesore district, located in the northern flanks of Odisha, has become the drug hub of the eastern Indian state with the repeated seizure of massive quantities of brown sugar and other contraband, of late.
In another major crackdown, the Odisha Police on Saturday conducted raids at several places in Jaleswar Town of Balasore district and seized a huge consignment of brown sugar and rounded up a man for its possession.
Acting on a tip-off, a team, consisting of Jaleswar Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) and Inspector in-Charge of Jaleswar Police Station along with other officials carried out searches at a market in the town till late on Friday and seized 400 grams of brown sugar. The market value of narcotics is estimated to be around Rs 40 lakh.
The identity of the arrested person is yet to be ascertained. Police have registered a case in connection with the incident and started an investigation.
The Jaleswar Police is also investigating the involvement of other persons in the drugs trade and smuggling, added reports.
As per the data revealed by the officials, more than five kilograms of brown sugar have been recovered while 30 drug dealers have been arrested by the Jaleswar Police in the last six months.
Recently, 350 gm brown sugar worth Rs 35 lakh was seized from Jaleswar area by the sleuths.
Earlier on January 29, the Jaleswar Police seized 350 gm of brown sugar, worth Rs 35 lakh in the town and arrested three persons in connection with the case.