In a large drug haul, the Special Task Force (STF) of the Crime Branch seized 2.058 kg brown sugar following a raid near the AIIMS, Bhubaneswar on Sunday and arrested three drug peddlers.
The market value of the seized contraband is more than Rs 2 crore.
The arrested peddlers were identified as Bhagirathi Bhatt alias Bhaga, Biswajit Nayak and Chandan Mallik of Raghunath Nagar.
Apart from the brown sugar, other incriminating materials were also recovered from their possession by the STF team during the raid. As the accused could not produce any relevant documents for possession of the contraband they were taken into custody.
The STF has registered a case under the NDPS Act and forwarded the accused to court. Further investigations are on to ascertain to source of the contraband.
In the special drive launched against narcotic drugs from 2020, the STF has seized more than 54 kg of brown sugar or heroin, 202 gram cocaine and more than 103 quintals of ganja, 750 gram opium and arrested more than 150 drug dealers/peddlers, the STF said.