Operation White Powder: Drug peddler arrested, brown sugar worth Rs 10 lakh seized in Balasore

Balasore: As part of its ongoing crackdown on narcotics trade, police on Sunday arrested a drug peddler and seized brown sugar worth nearly Rs 10 lakh from his possession in Balasore.

The accused has been identified as Rintu Tarai while brown sugar weighing 100 grams was seized during a raid in the wee hours.

Police sources said, Rintu was actively involved in the narcotics trade for the last three to four years and was also arrested twice in the past.

Excise and police in Balasore have launched a massive crackdown in the district against brown sugar trade after OTV in sting operation had exposed rampant narcotics trade that was flourishing in the district due to unbridled nexus between dealers and corrupt officials.

A major breakthrough had come on May 28, 2017 when the officials of Central Excise and Intelligence and Enforcement Bureau and Balasore unit had seized brown sugar weighing around 1kg worth nearly Rs 1 crore. A drug peddler Sk Rafik (28) was also arrested.

Also Read:Balasore, Odisha’s narcotic haven: OTV Exclusive

The sting operation titled ‘Operation White Powder’ was telecast in a report in April that subsequently forced district police and excise officials to launch crackdown on illegal narcotics trade in the region.

The sting operation by OTV found that drug peddlers were procuring the white powder from several agents in West Bengal and smuggled into Odisha via Kharagpur and Kolkata.